ly, he retired to another world; perhaps to that universe which
he had tried to reproduce in his second clock.

The Clocks of Bartolomeo Antonio Bertolla

The ingenuity displayed in the Borghesi clock by its constructor,
Bartolomeo Antonio Bertolla, requires a consideration of the other
examples of his work that have survived. The most important of his
clocks are probably the one in the Episcopal Palace at Trent and another
made for the Baron of Cles.

The one which survives in the Episcopal Palace to the present time, is
extremely tall and is housed in an elaborately decorated narrow case of
black or ebonized wood approximately 9 to 10 feet in height. The upper
part of the case is decorated with elaborately carved and gilt rococo
motifs. The movement operates for one year at a winding, indicates and
strikes the hours, and shows the lunar phases. It has an alarm, and will
repeat the strike at will, indicating the number of the past hour and
the quarters. The gilt brass dial is decorated with silver-foliated
scrollwork in relief at the corners, inside the chapter ring, and within
the broken arch. Featured above the chapter ring is the coat of arms,
executed in silver, of the patron for whom the clock was made,
Cristoforo Sizzo di Noris. Di Noris was Bishop of Trent for 13 years,
from 1763 to 1776.

The clock which Bertolla made for the Baron of Cles is a tall, narrow,
case clock of ebony or ebonized pearwood which is approximately 9-1/2
feet in height. The decoration of the case is considerably more
conservative than the one made for Di Noris, but the black wood is
decorated with silver trim and carved designs in the wood itself. The
dial is decorated with silver scrollwork and spandrels within and around
a raised chapter ring. The clock operates for one month at each winding,
has an alarm, indicates and strikes the hours, and will repeat the
quarters. This handsome timepiece is still in the possession of the
descendants of the Baron of Cles.

[Illustration: Figure 21.--TALL-CASE CLOCK BY BERTOLLA in the Episcopal
Palace in Trent, made for Bishop Cristoforo Sizzo di Noris. A striking
and repeating clock with lunar phases. (_Courtesy of Museo Nazionale
della Scienza e della Tecnica, Milan._)]

[Illustration: Figure 22.--INTERIOR OF BERTOLLA'S WORKSHOP, showing
detail of ceiling. (_Courtesy Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della
Tecnica, Milan._)]

[Illustration: Figure 23.--INTERIOR OF BERTOLLA'S WORKSHOP,