Inventory no. 49317 - Epact entry
Epact number: 69043
Scaphe Dial
Signed by Girolamo della Volpaia
Dated 1588; Florence
Wood and brass; 80 mm in diameter
Main text
This dial bears on the border the inscription 'NIL NOMEN NIL FAMA IVVAT NIL CANDIDA VIRTVS TEMPVS ENIM RAPIDO SINGVLA DENTE VORAT' referring to the rapid passing of time and to the uselessness of things such as fame or virtue for it.
The reference to teeth as a destroying power is not infrequent among classical Latin writers.
Source museum: Museum of the History of Science, Oxford
Museum number: Inventory no. 49, 317
Detailed text
The scaphe dial is made in brass and is kept in a turned wooden case. It bears on the border the inscription 'NIL NOMEN NIL FAMA IVVAT NIL CANDIDA VIRTVS TEMPVS ENIM RAPIDO SINGVLA DENTE VORAT'. The dial indicates Italian hours numbered from X to XXIIII. The tropics (indicated 'TROPICVS CAPRI {C} ORNI' and 'TROPICVS CANCRI') and the equinoctial line (indicated 'AEQVINOCTIALIS LINEA') are engraved. At the top of the scaphe is the signature 'HIERONIMVS VVL PARIAE FLORENTINVS · F A · 1588 ·' and at the bottom is a small compass with a wind rose. The latter has the initials of the wind names, 'T{RAMONTANA}', 'G{ARBINO]}', 'L{EVANTE}', 'S{IROCHO]}', 'M[?]', 'G{RECO}', 'P{ONENTE}', 'M{AESTRO}'.
Ilaria Meliconi