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Purpose
Italian time-keeping
Notes
Soane's puzzling references in his sketch/notebooks to '18 o'clock', '21 clocks' and '23 o'clock' reflect 'Ore Italiane', the current system of time-keeping based on the 24-hour clock. Traditionally, the start of the day was fixed at sunset, but from the mid-17th century it was usually reckoned half an hour later. Thus sunset was timed at 23 hours 30 minutes, while the times of sunrise and noon varied through the year by about 3½ to 4 hours depending on latitude. (From M. Talbot, 'Ore Italiane: the reckoning of the time of day in pre-Napoleonic Italy', Italian Studies, XL, 1985, pp.51-9.)
Level
Drawing
Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation
If you have any further information about this object, please contact us: drawings@soane.org.uk