Bartolomeo Ferracina

At a time when fine watchmaking has been recognised as an art, as much as it is a skill, the great horological figures of the past are enjoying new-found respect. Among those who contributed to the development of the machines that tell us the time was Bartolomeo Ferracina, a watchmaker and engineer from Solagna, a little village adjacent to Bassano del Grappa.

While his projects involving hydraulics benefitted the municipalities in which he operated, it was his work with clocks for which Ferracina is celebrated. He produced models of many types and sizes, from pendulum clocks to those with automata, from table to tower clocks, including models with the indication of the lunar phases, the motion of the stars and the zodiac. He managed this even though limiting himself to applying existing knowledge, without having to invent any new mechanisms. His most notable contribution to the history of timekeeping was the reconstruction of the tower clock of Piazza San Marco in Venice, to the benefit of millions of tourists every year.