Oblitum tempus: gli orologi solari della Chiesa dei Girolamini / Oblitum tempus: ancient sundials in the Church of Girolamini

To beat the rhythm of their existence by measuring the time has always been a fundamental requirement for humans. The history of the time measuring instruments, can be read as an original insight into the history of human civilization, its technological progress, of philosophical, scientific and artistic research, in the continuous attempt to penetrate this dimension of eternity. Sundials are the graphic representation, through the signs of shadows, of astronomical events perpetually taking place at endlessly distances. Abandoned to the inability of the restorers, without exhaustive specialized studies, sundials in Naples are a cultural heritage to be saved urgently by means of actions for their protection and recovery, but also for the dissemination of this ancient knowledge, which will be disperse quickly in the coming decades. The research carried out through historical records of the eighteenth and nineteenth century, dedicated to the city in Naples and to the church of San Filippo Neri, called Girolamini, revealed a complete absence of documentary sources that describe the ancient watches of the main facade and this has therefore prompted the present study to deal with a detailed report, to avoid the danger that, in the coming decades, the deterioration could wipe out these valuable artistic and scientific tools, whose historical value is in fact a precious testimony of an ancient knowledge. The monument of Girolamini houses also several other clocks within their cloisters: into the greater ore it is possible to admire a mechanical six hours watch, still working perfectly, while into an exactly specular position along the internal front of the cloister, facing south-east, there is one strange wall face, that formerly housed a sundial, now completely plastered for the inability to preserve the original layout of the curves of the time.