Lorenzo della Volpaia (1446-1512)
Planetary clock, 1510
Replica (Alberto Gorla and Istituto Statale d'Arte of Florence)
Florence, Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, inv. 3817

A faithful working reconstruction of the planetary clock devised and built by Lorenzo della Volpaia, by order of Lorenzo de' Medici. The clock has an innovative dial which, for the very first time, allows the viewer to take in the movements of all the planets in a single glance. It shows the movements of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, the phases and ages of the Moon, and the mean motion and true position of the Sun. It also marks the hour (with a chime), the day and the month.