Sundial port (Zonnewijzerpoort)

About this artwork.

Above the entrance gate of the Prinsenhof is a multi-coloured and richly gilded sundial. It was created in 1731 by Messrs Dorenbusch and Cremer: "two striking Groninger artists and great lovers of mathematics", according to a chronicle from 1743. Two stone plates in the columns of the gate show what can be read from this sundial:
 
The Shadow of The Knob Will Fall

on The Gold curved
lines shown in Golden Letters
The rising of The Sun
on The Right- and Under
Go to Her Left Hand and in The
Middle of The Right Hand the
Length of Days
The Shadow of The Knob next to
Fall at the Red or Black cross-wise
Intersecting Lines shown by the Red
Lines and Letters, At the top of the Work
The Babylonic Hours or How long the 
Sun has Shone and on the Black
Lines Shown at the bottom
of the work with Black Letters
the Italian Hours and in the Middle
of the work how Long the Sun will still Shine.
 
The Latin text depicted above the sun in arch form draws the visitor's attention to the preciousness of his own time and is translated:
 
"The past is nothing, the future uncertain, the present unsteady 
ensure that you do not neglect those who belong to you."
 
In 1907, the sundial was demolished as a result of a long period of general neglect and decay of the Prinsenhof. In 1953, after restoration, the sundial was reinstated.

Facts & Figures.

• Design
  Gerrit Stevens Cremer
  Jan Luijt Doornbusch

• District
  Centrum

• Year of creation
  1731

• Art type
  Art in / on a building

• Material
  Metal, Paint, Stone

• Dimensions
  h 3,00 x b 5,00 m