--PORTRAIT OF FRANCIS I, Emperor of the Holy
Roman Empire, to whom Father Borghesi's astronomical clock in the Museum
of History and Technology appears to have been inscribed.]

From the left to right over the tableau of the Holy Trinity is the
phrase "Lavs sacrosanctae Triadi Vni Deo, et Deiparae" (Praise [be] to
the most Holy Trinity, to the one God, and to the Mother of God).

Within the upper left and right spandrels is inscribed:

Isthaec, Signum grande apparvit in Coelo * sancta Dei genitrix
amicta sole * Illibato pede Lvnae et serpentis nigra premens
Cornva * bis senis pvlcherrime Coronata syderibvs * Tempe
indesinenter clavsa, scatvrigo signata * Cedrvs in Libano,
Cypresvs in Monte Sion * Mater pvrae Dilectionis sanctaeqve
spei * Chara patris aeterni proles, Verbi Mater, sponsaqve
procedentis *, gratiae et gloriae circvmdata varietate.

This inscription is a eulogy to the Virgin Mary assembled from the texts
of Holy Scripture. In addition, each _lemma_, contained within
asterisks, carries out the chronogram 1764, the year the clock was
completed. Each _lemma_ is translated and identified from the
Douay-Rheims version of the Bible:

This woman: a great sign appeared in Heaven (Apocalypse 12:1) *
The Holy Mother of God clothed with the sun (Apocalypse 12:1) *
And with unharmed foot crushing the black horns of the moon
(Apocalypse 12:1) and the serpent (Genesis 3:15) * Most
beautifully crowned with twice-six (Apocalypse 12:1) * A garden
[_Tempe_[15]] enclosed, sealed with a fountain [spring of
water] (Song of Songs 4:12) * Like a cedar in Lebanon, and a
cypress tree on Mount Zion; (Ecclesiasticus 24:17) * Mother of
pure love and of holy hope: Beloved daughter of the Eternal
Father, Mother of the Word, Spouse of the Holy Spirit:
(Ecclesiasticus 24:24) * Surrounded with a diversity of grace
and glory (Psalms 44:10).

[Illustration: Figure 14.--THE BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER of the dial plate,
showing two noblemen contemplating an orb, with the inscription "Diligit
Avdaces Trepidos Fortvna Repellet." (Fortune favors the daring and
rejects the timid.)]

At the lower left corner below the figure of Atlas upholding the world
is the phrase, _Assidvo proni donant di cvncta labori_. (The favorable
gods willingly grant all things to the assiduous laborer.) The same
phrase is quoted by Father Borghesi in the text of his second volu