Palazzo Capitanio

The Palazzo Capitanio in Padua is a palace built for the Venetian governors of Padua. The palazzo incorporated the Renaissance style Carrara palazzo of the Carrara family. The biography of Falconetto in "Lives of the most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects", by Giorgio Vasari, first published in 1550 in Florence, describes how the architect:

"built a very large and magnificent Doric portal for the Palace of the Captain of that place [Padua]; and this portal is much praised by everyone as a work of great purity."

The clock has signs of the Zodiac:

0° - Aries

Tropical zodiac - 20 March - 20 April
Sidereal zodiac - 15 April - 15 May

30° - Taurus

Tropical zodiac - 20 April - 21 May
Sidereal zodiac - 16 May - 15 June

60° - Gemini

Tropical zodiac - 21 May - 21 June
Sidereal zodiac - 16 June - 15 July

90° - Cancer

Tropical zodiac - 21 June - 22 July
Sidereal zodiac - 16 July - 15 August

120° - Leo

Tropical zodiac - 22 July - 23 August
Sidereal zodiac - 16 August - 15 September

150° - Virgo

Tropical zodiac - 23 August - 23 September
Sidereal zodiac - 16 September - 15 October

210° - Scorpio

Tropical zodiac - 23 October - 22 November
Sidereal zodiac - 16 November - 15 December

240° - Sagittarius

Tropical zodiac - 22 November - 22 December
Sidereal zodiac - 16 December - 14 January

270° - Capricorn

Tropical zodiac - 22 December - 20 January
Sidereal zodiac - 15 January - 14 February

300° - Aquarius

Tropical zodiac - 20 January - 18 February
Sidereal zodiac - 15 February - 14 March

330° - Pisces

Tropical zodiac - 18 February - 20 March
Sidereal zodiac - 15 March - 14 April

Timeline

15th century - The clock was one of the first public clocks in Italy and marked the hours, minutes, days of the month, the year, lunar phases and position of the sun with respect to the Zodiac. Of the Zodiac signs on the clock face, Libra is missing, presumably an insult to those who failed to pay the builder the amount he thought was due.
1532 - The façade of the clock tower rebuilt in stone by Falconetto.

Images on Camera and Canvas

Amazon Books

Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions - 2 Volume Set: Possibilities of Numerical and Experimental Techniques - Proceedings of the IVth Int. ... 10-13 November 2004, Padova, Italy

Author: Claudio Modena, P.B. Lourenço, P. Roca

Publisher: Taylor & Francis (2004)

Binding: Hardcover, 1466 pages