Gianello della Torre facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Juanelo Turriano
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Bust of Juanelo Turriano
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| Born |
Giovanni Torriani
1500 |
| Died | 1585 (aged 85) |
| Resting place | Toledo, Spain |
Gianello della Torre or to Spaniards Juanelo Turriano or Giovanni Torriani, c. 1500 — 1585) was an Italo-Spanish clockmaker, engineer and mathematician. He was born in Cremona.
Biography
Called to Spain in 1529 by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, he was appointed Court Clock Master and built the Cristalino, an astronomical clock that made him famous in his time. Philip II of Spain named him Matemático Mayor. He worked and lived in Toledo, where he built the Artificio de Juanelo, an engine that, driven by the river itself, lifted water from the Tagus to a height of almost 100 meters, to supply the city and its castle (Alcázar). He, however, did not get to be properly paid for its expenses.
Turriano is attributed as the creator of the "Clockwork Prayer", an automaton representing a monk manufactured in the 1560s based on a commission from Philip II of Spain. Following the recovery of his son, and in the belief that Didacus of Alcalá had in some way intervened on his behalf, King Philip II of Spain would have commissioned Juanelo Turriano, mechanic to his father, to build a clockwork model of Didacus. The model would perform a number of set actions. An automaton of similar age, functions, and appearance is in the collections of the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Another automaton associated with Turriano is a figure of a lady playing a lute housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
He died at Toledo in 1585.
