Admirari poteris, sed nunquam satis: Juanelo's "Artificio" in a Latin poem of Pierleone Casella

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to draw attention on a short poem dedicated to Juanelo Turriano of Cremona, watchmaker of Charles V and Philip II. This poem was included in the anthology entitled Elogia Illustrium artificum of Pierleone Casella, an humanist from the Farnese intellectual circle in Rome. One of Turriano’s most celebrated artifacts was the so-called “Cristallino”, an amazing planetary clock made during his retreat at Yuste. Previously, he managed to supply water to the Alcazar of Toledo in the highest part of the city, thanks to an extremely complex mechanical device known as the “Artificio -or Ingenio- de Juanelo”, an achievement especially praised by his contemporaries. Both feats were metaphorically glossed in the Casella’s elogium included among his illustres artifices. Federico Zuccari, the painter and essayist who saw and admired the "artificio" in Toledo (1585-1588), could influence his decision.