Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0014588, Sat, 6 Jan 2007 15:47:49 -0200

Subject
gnomon and rose of the winds compass: tesselation and
mosaic,sciothery; fighting shadows
From
Date
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Dear List,
After a first moment of puzzlement, I was able to organize some of the ideas
that kept popping up while reading Nabokov.
Some time ago I asked the List for an indication about a "rose-shaped
compass" and, while trying to get images of a "gnomon" ( a wand, baton or
stick, in Greek) I reached a mosaic where this "rose" is represented by a
tesselated surface in pink and black to accomodate a sun-dial
The information I collected from the internet has been imprecisely
translated by me. Any corrections shall be most welcome, since my lack of
technical information is, in itself, quite astonishing.
The gnomon presented in black-and-white was built in the city of Santos, São
Paulo, a "rose of the winds" with four spherical shapes that indicate the
cardinal points and the rose of the winds is represented by 16 radii, a
mosaic formed by black and pink pices. The points N.S.L.O. [N,S, E,W in
English] are indicated in the spheres. This gnomon is regulated to measure
time from 6AM to 6 PM (right/left). Its coordinates are indicated: Latitude
23º 56'- S / Longitude 3º 10' - RJ. [relative to the position of Rio de
Janeiro city at 23º 0' Sul 43º 12' West. Santos is at the meridian 46º 22'
West, in relation to Greenwich]
The other image comes from Sagres ( Portugal) where, five centuries ago one
of the first schools for navigation was founded by Prince Henrique. This "
Rosa dos Ventos" is a compass shaped like a rose with 43 meters lenght,
located at the "Monumento ao Descobrimento" (the image here presented comes
from a replica.).

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