Zarbula Sundial1870: Champas du Col, Italy
Posted by: 
arby101ca
N 44° 56.855 E 006° 51.120
32T E 330550 N 4979371
Quick Description: In 1870 Zarbula painted a sundial and Black Madonna on a large house on the main street of Champas du Col, Val Chisone, Piemonte, Italy
Location: Piemonte, Italy
Date Posted: 11/20/2009 3:33:23 PM
Waymark Code: WM7Q03
Views: 0
Long Description:In 1870 the Franco-Prussian war made relations between France and
Italy difficult. Zarbula returned to Italy and painted a series of
sundials in the Val Chisone region of Piemonte. A total of 12
sundials in this area are attributed to Zarbula, painted in 1870 to
1872. In 1876 Zarbula seems to have returned to France to paint
three more sundials near Briançon.
This sundial on a large house at 28 Nazionale is much like the
dial painted the previous year on St Sebastien chapel in Le
Villard, Vallouise (WM7PTG). There is even a Black Madonna to
counterbalance the dial on the other end of the wall. This is not
obvious until the shutter is closed. Then you can read "Nigra sum
sed Formosa Filiae Jerusalem"(I am black but beautiful, O daughters
of Jerusalem.
The dial is the typical Zarbula design for this period late in
his career. It is dated and signed ZGF. The symbols include the
sun, moon, Masonic tools, flower pots and a rooster. The dial
declines east from south. The gnomon is in place but bent vertical
to look correct. There is no motto but the dial has the name of the
owner, Beroudon, Jacque Etienne, which sounds more French than
Italian.