Sundials France – GAUDIUM SUB SOLE . SUNDIALS . MEDIEVAL TO MODERN

MUSÉE de CLUNY . PARIS – Cadran Solaire 1674: Nil Sine Nobis

Published on April 11, 2023April 13, 2023 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

The collection of the National Museum of the Middle Ages is housed in a wonderful building, at one time an abbatiale. There is some debate about the dates of the origins and the building of the Hôtel; and of later rebuilding / restoration. The large sundial on the south wall of the courtyard is dated 1674. This was the reign of the Sun King (1643 – 1715), and a sun with its rays was an obviously fitting theme for the times.

DIAL

The lines on the dial face are carefully graduated and the hours marked with Arabic numerals. Several lines terminate in arrows, suggesting a busy schedule of mainly forenoon masses.

MOTTO

NIL SINE NOBIS. A. B. F. 1674.

The inscription is usually translated as Nothing [Exists] Without Us. Margaret Gatty (1809-18730, in her comprehensive work The Book of Sun-Dials, gave the Cluny dial an unusually detailed entry:

802.

NIL SINE NOBIS. A. B. F. 1674. Nothing exists without us.

A dial on the wall of a courtyard on the south side of the Hôtel Cluny, Paris, had this inscription. The word nobis referred to the rays of the sun which were represented on its face. The Hôtel Cluny, a very beautiful specimen of rather elaborate fourteenth century Gothic architecture, was bought in 1625 for the abbess and nuns of Port Royal, and was known as Port Royal de Paris. It was re-established by Louis XIV. in 1665, on a fresh basis, and was looked upon as schismatic by the community of Port Royal des Champs. This dial must have been erected in the time of the first abbess of the new foundation, Sœur Dorothée Perdreau, who held office till 1684.

Cluny Museum and its sundial: detailed entry by Margaret Gatty

SCALLOP SHELLS and HERALDIC MOTTOS

The scallop shells are interwoven with two inscriptions (or possibly a single one in two parts) which deserve a mention as part of the overall design. The shells themselves evidence an ancient Pilgrimage route that passed close by – the long Rue St Jacques is a few meters to the North.

The heraldic mottos are said to read, firstly: Servire Deo Regnare Est – To Serve God Is To Reign; MG suggests, without much conviction, that the other (or part of it) may be as shown below.

With very rusty Latin and a bit of internet work, I can’t make either interpretation fit the scrolls we can see. Possibly they relate to a different part of the Musée, and the shell one(s) are different. I’ll have to leave the reader to try to puzzle this out (all suggestions welcome).

GSS Category: Early Sundial / Vertical Dial; French Sundial; Sundial Motto

Credits: all photos Keith Salvesen – please seek use permission for these detailed ones; Musée Cluny for the Unicorn

LLUC MONASTERY . MALLORCA . COMPLEX MULTI-DIAL: from Canonical to 20th Century

Published on July 17, 2022July 18, 2022 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

Multiple Vertical Sundial, Lluc Monastery, Mallorca (Keith Salvesen) — Lluc Monastery . Mallorca – Sundial (Keith Salvesen)

The secluded Monastery of Lluc is situated near Escorca in the Tramuntana mountains of Mallorca. It dates from the c13, and is famous for its Black Madonna, the discovery of which is said to have led to the monastery’s foundation . It is a place of pilgrimage. The location is remote and peaceful, though inevitably the monastery has become an essential stop on the tourist and coach party trail. We returned there recently, not having visited Mallorca for more than 20 years. The buildings were much as we remembered, but the parking and visitor arrangements were more regimented and complex. Before, one just drove down the narrow road from the main mountain road and parked in the forecourt area close to the buildings. Now, everything is (unsurprisingly) geared to a daily mass influx of people and their needs for sustenance and souvenirs. We were pleased to see that it is still possible to stay at Lluc in one of small rooms under a long covered walk where the monks once slept. You can even book a room for the night.

A short walk from the monastery, there is a path that leads up to a calvary and some great views. Along the way is an amazing multiple vertical sundial. It was designed by Rafael Soler, and carved in 1991. It displays with some style the evolution of sundials from medieval to modern. There are two historical dials, one solar dial, and two seasonal dials.

CANONICAL HOURS – LATINATE

This dial simply records the 3-hourly canonical divisions of the liturgical day (as with the early medieval mass / scratch dials), starting with midnight (top) and working counterclockwise round a central gnomon.

Lluc Monastery . Mallorca – Sundial (Canonical)

CANONICAL HOURS – BABYLONIAN / MALLORQUIN

A more complex dial, starting at noon shown as XXIV (I’m not clear why not XII) through to 21.00. The dial includes months and the signs of the Zodiac.

Lluc Monastery . Mallorca – Sundial – Babylonian / Mallorquines

TEMPS VERTADER – TRUE SOLAR TIME

The centre dial shows true solar time. The polar gnomon (triangular) shows the hours, the pointer shows the date with the declination lines. The inscription MULIER AMICTER SOLE (Woman Clothed by the Sun) references an account in the Book of Revelations. You can find out more HERE

MEAN TIME DIAL (SUMMER /AUTUMN)

The two right-hand sundials are complementary and each covers two seasons. Presumably for a particular month, one dial will be reliable as to time and the ‘off-season’ one will not. The words are Catalan eg Hores Mitjanes = Mean Time; Estiu I Tardor = Summer and Autumn.

MEAN TIME DIAL (WINTER / SPRING)

The creation of these dials was obviously a labour of love and skill combined. There’s doubtless plenty more to be said about these sundials and the splendid ensemble but I decided not to get too technical – indeed, as an amateur I don’t understand enough to do so. The rather washed out appearance of the images was operator error – I had the camera on the wrong settings and didn’t realise until too late…

GSS Category: canonical to modern multi-dial; sundial Lluc Mallorca

All photos: Keith Salvesen; snippet from BSS record

Original Credits: ‘Props to arby101ca and lumbricus, members of a geocaching & waymarking website called Groundspeak. They hiked to Lluc (respect!) and wrote informatively about these dials. I found relatively little elsewhere.

HAUTRIVE . ORNE . NORMANDY . ÉGLISE SAINT-MARTIN – Scratch Dial

Published on July 2, 2022 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

ST MARTIN . HAUTERIVE . ORNE . NORMANDY

This unassuming little village is about 10 kms NE of Alençon, in the lower part of an area of Normandy south of Caen where medieval dials can be found on a number of village churches. Mostly, they are single examples but a handful of churches have a profusion of dials that are quite hard even to count let alone analyse.

DIAL

The dial is quite complex. Its position is on the quoin of the chancel, however the only reference I have found suggests it was at one time on the R side of the main doorway. The church is obviously well looked-after and its care may have involved relocation of stones when repairs were carried out.

The details of the dial’s semicircular design are intricate. There is a big blocked gnomon hole that must have been enlarged over the years from something more proportionate. The noon line is emphasised by a large terminal pock. 10± visible lines radiate from the centre, though there must have been more. Most end in pocks: some single, some double, some triple. The pocks themselves have small lines around them, or 2 are joined to each other. Overall, the impression is of a perfectly serviceable traditional Mass dial that has been made enjoyably decorative.

I have included close-ups of the lower quadrants of the dial together with side shots to better show the complexity of the dial in its eroded state. I have never encountered one quite like this.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial; Mass Dial; Medieval Dial France

All photos: Keith Salvesen

ST RÉMY DU VAL . SARTHE . NORMANDY . FRANCE – St Rémy et St Rigomer

Published on May 1, 2022May 5, 2022 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

St Rémy et St Rigomer . St Rémy du Val . Normandy

St Rémy du Val is about 12m SE of Alençon, in a countryside of fields and forests. The church of St Rémy et St Rigomer stands high above the river Bienne, beside a now-ruined small castle. It has early origins but dates mainly from C15. The strong tower also had a defensive purpose. At some stage a small and attractive renaissance double doorway was added, a pleasing architectural contrast.

DIAL

The dial is located on the SW face of the buttress shown in the foreground of the header image. There is a definite tilt to this part of the church supported by the buttress, and to the adjacent buildings (the photo exaggerates it considerably).

I wasn’t expecting to find a dial (or even looking for one), and I was lucky to see such an unobtrusive example as we walked past. I later discovered that there is one other mention of it, and of a possible small dial close to it.

*St Rémy et St Rigomer . St Rémy du Val . Normandy – Scratch Dial Gallery*

The dial is considerably eroded and quite badly damaged in the lower R quadrant. Close-to, its relative sophistication is evident. The radials are within a double circle and as far as one can tell do not overlap the inner circumference. Almost certainly the lines were incised all the way round the gnomon hole. There is a hint that in the lower half – or perhaps just the lower L quadrant – there are half-hour marks as well. Perhaps these details suggest a C16 dial.

St Rémy et St Rigomer . St Rémy du Val . Normandy – scratch dial (detail)

SMALL DIAL?

Michael Lalos, who runs a very good site for French sundials of all types, also found this small design. At first sight it doesn’t look very promising as a dial, and might perhaps be an apotropaic symbol. However in the last year I have found 2 or 3 very similar designs that in their context were most likely intended as dials.

GSS Category: Scratch Dial

All photos Keith Salvesen except the last pair, Michael Lalos

BARFLEUR . FRANCE . Saint-Nicolas – Vertical Dial

Published on April 8, 2022 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

Barfleur is a small town / large village on the NE tip of the Contentin peninsula in Normandy, roughly due E of Cherbourg. The church of St Nicolas, despite the initial impression, was built mid-C17. Later additions and restoration mid-C19 incorporated an impressively large sundial (it doesn’t seem to have been a later addition).

The face of the dial has almost entirely been obliterated, with half a dozen very faint lines just visible in the lower L quadrant. There is also the hint of a frame under the cast shadow, though it might simply be the remains of a horizontal line. Erosion by the sea over many decades has made the details speculative. The gnomon may possibly be original. Whether or not, the design of the tip is clever and includes a small hole at the tip that creates a neat spearhead.

GSS Category: Old Dial; Eurodial; French Sundial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

LAVAUDIEU . AUVERGNE . MAIRIE – Dial Simplicity

Published on April 5, 2022 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

Lavaudieu is a small Auvergne town with a fine romanesque Abbey. For present purposes, the sundial on the wall of the Mairie is the attraction. On a bright sunny day, the simplicity and legibility of this civic dial is hard to beat. The ‘arrowheads’ might be considered a little too ornate for the overall design.

‘Moins est plus’ might be a good motto for the dial, as it is more generally. As soon as I saw it I knew it would be in my top 20 non-medieval dials. It still is.

GSS Category: Modern Dial

Photos: Keith Salvesen

LES CADRANS SOLAIRES DE COARAZE: CERAMIC TILE SUNDIALS IN PROVENCE

Published on December 27, 2021December 27, 2021 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

Cadrans Solaires Sundials Coaraze (© Keith Salvesen) — Cadrans Solaires . Ceramic Sundials . Coaraze . Provence – Jean Cocteau

LES CADRANS SOLAIRES: THE CERAMIC TILE SUNDIALS OF COARAZE, PROVENCE

The nine sundials shown below are in Coaraze, a small medieval ‘village perché’ (650m) in the Alpes-Maritimes, Provence, north of Nice. They include sundials by artistic polymath Jean Cocteau (poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, artist and filmmaker); Ponce de Leon; and Henri Goetz, among others. They are located in two places in the village (1) on the front and side walls of the Marie (2) at the top of the village on a south-facing walls in the square in front of the church. They need no interpretation by me: everyone who views these wonderful sundials will experience their own personal response to each one.

MONA CRISTIE – LA CHEVAUCHÉE DU TEMPS

Cadrans Solaires . Ceramic Sundials . Coaraze . Provence – Mona Cristie

GEORGES DOUKING – LES ANIMAUX FABULEUX

Cadrans Solaires . Ceramic Sundials . Coaraze . Provence – Georges Douking

JEAN COCTEAU – LES LÉZARDS

Lizards are the historic symbol of the village

coaraze-sundial-3b.jpg (1280×960) — Cadrans Solaires . Ceramic Sundials . Coaraze . Provence – Jean Cocteau

GILBERT VALENTIN – LES TOURNESOLS

coaraze-sundial-4a.jpg (1280×960) — Cadrans Solaires . Ceramic Sundials . Coaraze . Provence – Gilbert Valentin

FABIENNE BARRE (2008)

On the side wall of the Marie, with a view of the village

coaraze-sundial-5a.jpg (1280×1049) — Cadrans Solaires . Ceramic Sundials . Coaraze . Provence – Fabienne Barre

coaraze-sundial-5c.jpg (1280×963) — Cadrans Solaires . Ceramic Sundials . Coaraze . Provence – Fabienne Barre

ANGEL PONCE DE LÉON – BLUE TIME (1961)

coaraze-sundial-6a.jpg (1280×960) — Cadrans Solaires . Ceramic Sundials . Coaraze . Provence – Angel Ponce de Léon

HENRI GOETZ – LE PYTHON ET SA COURONNE EN VERT ET OR (1961)

coaraze-sundial-7a.jpg (1280×1006) — Cadrans Solaires . Ceramic Sundials . Coaraze . Provence – Henri Goetz

SACHA SOSNO (2007)

coaraze-sundial-8a.jpg (1280×960) — Cadrans Solaires . Ceramic Sundials . Coaraze . Provence – Sacha Sosno

“BEN” – BENJAMIN VAUTIER (2008)

coaraze-sundial-9a.jpg (1280×960) — Cadrans Solaires . Ceramic Sundials . Coaraze . Provence – Benjamin Vautier

coaraze-a.jpg (1280×978) — Cadrans Solaires . Ceramic Sundials . Coaraze . Provence

coaraze-sundial-10.jpg (1280×960) — Cadrans Solaires . Ceramic Sundials . Coaraze . Provence

Coaraze Sundial 11 — Cadrans Solaires . Ceramic Sundials . Coaraze . Provence – Benjamin Vautier

ST GEORGES de BOSCHERVILLE . NORMANDY – a complex modern sundial

Published on November 20, 2021 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

LES CADRANS SOLAIRES DE ST GEORGES de BOSCHERVILLE

This decorative sundial – one of two – is something rather special. It is both elegant and complex, and must have taken a long time to devise and lay out accurately. It stands in the extensive grounds of the fine Abbey Church of St Georges de Boscherville in Normandy. I managed to get the last small pamphlet in the Abbey bookshop. Even then I failed to understand the sundial properly, and not simply because of my rusty but workable French. I’m not even going to attempt to describe the dial, but it was easy to photograph in detail in its picturesque setting, and I have included a shot of the explanatory plaque at the end for the science-minded.

One fact I learnt is that until WWII, France was on Greenwich Meantime. During the occupation, the Germans changed the time zone to Central European time, a practice that has remained ever since.

St Georges de Boscherville Sundial 1.1. 1

St Georges de Boscherville Sundial 1.1. 2

St Georges de Boscherville Sundial 1.1. 3

St Georges de Boscherville Sundial 1.1. 4

St Georges de Boscherville Sundial 1.1. 5

St Georges de Boscherville Sundial 1.1. 6

St Georges de Boscherville Sundial 1.1. 7

St Georges de Boscherville Sundial 1.1. 8

GSS Category: Cadran Solaire Sphérique / Spherical Dial

All photos: Keith Salvesen

VERTICAL SUNDIAL AT ST GEORGES de BOSCHERVILLE

LINK

The Abbey in 1700

CÉRET . FRANCE – ST FERRÉOL HERMITAGE

Published on June 21, 2021 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

Céret lies south of Perpignan, in the foothills of the Pyrenees quite close to the Spanish border. The Hermitage is a short distance to the north. The modern art museum in Céret has many works by Picasso, including sculpture and ceramics; and by other famous artists of the period.

St Ferréol Hermitage, Céret, France – sundial (2004)

This enjoyably rustic sundial is painted directly onto the facade of the C13 chapel (restoration C18). It is intriguing for the way in which the radials are moored, carefully graduated, on the diagonal of the dial face. The arrow gnomon forms part of the opposite diagonal. As an amateur, to me the design of the dial looks quite complicated, especially the calculation of the angle and distance between 11 & noon.

I am still trying to work out the inscription at the top. It seems to be ‘Ultimum’, which could be a neat Latin way of saying something like ‘To the end of Time / Jusqu’ à la fin du temps’

GSS Category: Modern Dial

All photographs: Keith Salvesen

JUMIÈGES ABBEY. NORMANDY – CANONICAL DIAL: ‘Les heures canoniales’

Published on April 29, 2021 by Rolling HarbourLeave a comment

Artistic inspiration led to the installation of an astonishing modern ‘sundial’ in the ruins of the sublime C12 Abbey of Jumièges. This complex time-measurer of the religious day is quite unlike any other I have seen, or expect to see. I have no idea quite how it was conceived or executed. It truly is the interface of Science and Art.

‘The relation between the spiritual elevation of Benedictine monks and celestial radiance’

It is the work of Jacques Leclercq-K (as he designates himself). ‘Les heures canoniales 2016’ is an enormous 10m high / 3m wide structure, yet it succeeds in being extraordinarily delicate.

Jumièges Abbey . Normandy . Canonical Sundial

The 48 long sharp needles of these ecclesiastical stalactites and stalagmites form a remarkable screen within their space in the ruins. Each is marked with its own significance in the greater scheme of the hourly divisions and rites of the church.

The subtitle of the work translates as a relation between the elevation of the Benedictine monks and celestial radiance. One surprising feature is the ease with which such a very modern concept works with the ancient structure that frames it, and with the architectural details such as the Piscina (below).

As Leclercq explains, the canonical times of day and night are divided into 8 parts, beginning at midnight, and each announced by a ring of bells. These segments – each with a specific liturgical significance – are Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline (see diagram). The rod representing each canonical hour is marked with a blue dot and the initial letter of the relevant hour.

Mass Dial . St Martin . Cheselbourne . Dorset

It is worth noting that many of the medieval mass or scratch dials featured elsewhere in this site are incised (or roughly marked) on the local church for the benefit of the populace, and include the canonical hours as kept in that community. These may be emphasised by being deeper or wider cut, or by being extended, or by having a pock or even a cross at the end of the radials.

Truly, Leclercq’s work is a modern art installation and scientific wonder rolled into one delicate structure. It is Scripture as Sculpture

GSS Category: Miraculous

All photos: Keith Salvesen