Empress expressed a desire to acquire the clocks. 



Father Tovazzi states that in 1780 "the clock in- 

 vented by him [Borghesi] was preserved in Vienna, 

 Austria, at the Imperial Court from which the 

 inventor was receiving an annual pension of 400 

 florins." No records in the Palace archives relating 

 to the clock have yet been found, nor records of 

 payment of an annuity to Father Borghesi. However, 

 a more exhaustive investigation of the Furniture De- 

 pository of the Imperial Court may bring forth related 

 records. It was the implication in Father Tovazzi's 

 account that the second clock had been presented to 

 the Empress prior to the publication of the anonymous, 

 critical letter in 1 768 or 1 769. He believed that it was 

 envy of Father Borghesi's ingenuity, fame and finan- 

 cial benefit that had caused the anonymous mathe- 

 matician to publish his letter, for Tovazzi asked "Who 

 would have encountered opposition to such a marvel? 

 Envy is not yet dead, and has always reigned." 



This last-mentioned theory about the presentation 

 may be the most likely one. Some evidence may be 

 found in the second clock itself which bears out this 

 assumption. The multiple chapter ring, with its 

 many inscriptions, is engraved and silvered in a 

 relatively crude manner, presumably by Bertolla him- 

 self. The main dial plate, however, which is of gilt 

 brass, is engraved with the utmost skill by one of the 

 great masters of the art. The inscription below the 

 Imperial Hapsburg eagle relates to Francis I, Emperor 

 of the Holy Roman Empire. It is entirely possible 

 that although Father Borghesi originally had no 

 intention of giving the clock to the Emperor or the 

 Empress at the time that it was made, he later changed 

 his mind. Accordingly, he may have commissioned a 

 master engraver, possibly in Trent or in Vienna itself, 

 to produce a dial plate which would be of such a 

 quality as to be worthy of the Emperor himself. If so. 

 this was done shortly after the clock was completed, 

 for the Emperor died in August of the following year. 

 Perhaps by the time that the clock was ready, the 

 Emperor had already died, and Father Borghesi gave 

 the clock instead to Maria Theresa without revising 

 the inscription. 



The acceptance of the clocks by the Empress, and 

 the annuity which was his reward, would have 

 constituted considerable honor even for one of the 

 foremost clockmakcrs of the Empire, but for a humble 

 parish priest in a little village, such notable Imperial 

 recognition was overwhelming. Possibly as a result 

 of it, a change was noted in Father Borghesi in the 

 next few years. I lis conscience began to bother 



him, and he began to question whether he had done 

 right in spending so much of his time and thought 

 on his horological research. He became more and 

 more confused in his own mind. Had he spent too 

 much time in mechanical studies to the neglect of 

 his ecclesiastical duties? If this had been the case, 

 he had committed the most grievous sin. 



Exaggerated though these thoughts may appear, 

 they were undoubtedly of the most critical importance 

 to the middle-aged priest. His mental turbulence 

 and confusion increased daily, and it soon became 

 apparent to others around him. By June 1779, he 

 was completely in the grip of his obsession, and his 

 parishioners began to whisper amongst themselves 

 that their pastor was being tortured by the devil. 

 They were unable to help him, and he became more 

 and more preoccupied with his problem. The years 

 passed slowly as the pastor became more vague and 

 more tortured by his conscience. 18 



There probably was continued contact between 

 Father Borghesi and Bertolla for at least some time 

 after the development of his illness. Bertolla had 

 retired from active work, but continued to pursue 

 his interests in his clockshop as much as his health 

 and advanced years permitted. A clock which he 

 made at the age of 80 survives and is described and 

 illustrated in the following section on "The Clocks 

 of Bartolomeo Antonio Bertolla." Finally, on Jan- 

 uary 15, 1789, Bertolla passed away and Father 

 Borghesi was left alone, deprived of the companionship 

 he had enjoyed with the older man for the past two 

 or three decades. One of Bertolla's nephews con- 

 tinued to work in the master clockmaker's workshop, 

 but there did not appear to be any association between 

 the younger man and Father Borghesi. 



At last, in 1794, Father Borghesi lost his sanity 

 completely, and he was forced to relinquish his pas- 

 toral duties to a curate. For the remaining eight 

 years of his life, he continued to live in the rectory 

 of the little parish church in Mechel where most 

 of his life had been spent, his needs undoubtedly 

 attended by the parishioners he could no longer 

 serve. During this period, until his death at the age 

 of 79 on June 12. 1802, Father Borghesi lived on, 

 oblivious of those around him. Seemingly, he retired 

 to another world: perhaps to that universe which he 

 had tried to reproduce in his second clock. 



'8 Perini, Statistica del Trentino, Bibliottca Communale del 

 Trentino, vol. 2, |>. 57 icon'.. 6, carta 9); Tovazzi, Bibliottca 

 Tirolese, pp. K>6 K»7. 



58 



Bl III ll\ 240: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



