Pietro Brosio Gallery: Sundial 1

Modern sundial at Oulx (1127m, Susa Valley, Piedmont)
The inscription says: "Per gli amici qualunque ora" ("For friends any hour").

A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style (a thin rod or a sharp, straight edge) onto a flat surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day. As the sun moves across the sky, the shadow-edge progressively aligns with different hour-lines on the plate. (Wikipedia)

In the Valsusa (Piedmont) there are many sundials. Still present on south-facing facades of churches, public buildings or houses, sundials have been used for more than two centuries since the eighteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century. In addition to the function for which they were created, namely to know the hour at a time when watches were rare and expensive, sundials held a decorative function.

Where have the flowers gone?

Where have all the flowers gone,
long time passing?
Where have all the flowers gone,
long time ago?
Where have all the flowers gone?
Gone to young girls, every one!
When will they ever learn,
when will they ever learn?
Where have all the young girls gone,
long time passing?
Where have all the young girls gone,
long time ago?
Where have all the young girls gone?
Gone to young men, every one!
When will they ever learn,
when will they ever learn?
Where have all the young men gone,
long time passing?
Where have all the young men gone,
long time ago?
Where have all the young men gone?
Gone to soldiers, every one!
When will they ever learn,
when will they ever learn?
And where have all the soldiers gone,
long time passing?
Where have all the soldiers gone,
long time ago?
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards, every one!
When will they ever learn,
when will they ever learn?
And where have all the graveyards gone,
long time passing?
Where have all the graveyards gone,
long time ago?
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Gone to flowers, every one!
When will they ever learn,
oh when will they ever learn?
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing?
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago?
Where have all the flowers gone?
Young girls picked them, every one.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?

Pete Seeger, 1956

Pietro Brosio Gallery

"The Universal Peace", 1976, oil on canvas 100x70cm.

Pages

29 September 2008

Sundial 1

Comments: 13