THE AMBASSADORS . HANS HOLBEIN . 1533 . NATIONAL GALLERY
Cylindrical or Shepherd’s Dial 
Small Horizontal Dial 
Polyhedral Dial
NICOLAS KRATZER . HANS HOLBEIN . 1528 . LOUVRE
Nicholas Kratzer (ca.1487 – 1550) was a German mathematician, astronomer, and horologist. He was appointed as astronomer to King Henry VIII. He is depicted with the tools of his trade, working on the construction of a polyhedral dial. On the shelf behind his head is a cylinder dial.
Kratzer was a prolific dial maker including a portable dial for Cardinal Wolsey, now in the Oxford Museum of the History of Science. Among his creations were at least three sundials made in Oxford, where he had a connection with Corpus Christi College, presumably as a mathematician. None still exists.
DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI – BEATRIX BEATA
Rossetti’s grief for the death of his wife Elizabeth Siddal inspired this interpretation of Dante Alighieri’s loss of Beatrice Portinari. This version is in the Tate Gallery; there were many others in various formats, both contemporary and later. The symbolism in the painting (blood red dove; Ponte Vecchio etc) includes a prominently placed sundial. According to the Tate’s account of the iconography, “Beatrice’s death, which occurred at nine o’clock on 9th June 1290, is foreseen in the sundial which casts its shadow over the number nine“.
PETER FLÖTNER: HUMAN SUNDIAL
TO BE ADDED
SUNDIALS AS ALBUM COVER ART
