Icon artificio juanelo

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Francesc Xavier Jufre Garcia, El artificio de Juanelo Turriano para elevar agua al Alcázar de Toledo (S. XVI). Modelo con escaleras de Valturio. Lleida: Editorial Milenio; Madrid: Fundacio´n Juanelo Turriano, 2008. Pp. 241. j20.

Francesc Xavier Jufre-Garcia’s study on the Artificio de Juanelo is a highly relevant contribution to the understanding of the hydraulic machine constructed in the mid-1500s by Juanelo Turriano. Jufre-Garcia is a mechanical engineer who uses his technical knowledge to study again the scarce evidence on the extraordinary device designed and constructed by Turriano for the city of Toledo and for the King of Spain.

Born in 1501 in Cremona, the Duchy of Milan – at that time part of the Spanish Empire – Juanelo Turriano entered into the service of Emperor Charles V in 1529 as Court Clock Master. After Charles V abdicated in favour of his son Philip II in 1556, Turriano spent the last one and a half years of the Emporer’s life with him in Granada. Following Charles’ death in 1558, Turriano was named Major Mathematician to the King and placed in charge of several relevant engineering projects. While living in Toledo, he designed and constructed one of his most original inventions, the so-called ‘Artificio’, a system to carry water from the river Tajo to the top of the hill on which Toledo stands. He died in Toledo in 1585.

The Artificio constructed by Turriano solved the water supply problem for the city of Toledo as well as for the city’s royal castle – Alcázar. Previously, water had been transported from a dam along a Roman aqueduct, but because maintaining the aqueduct proved almost impossible, containers of water were transported by animals and carts up 90 metres in elevation from the river to the city. After using a model to persuade the Municipality of Toledo and the King of the soundness of his complex hydraulic device, Turriano contracted with the Municipality of Toledo and the King to construct it: he would pay for construction, and if the Artificio was able to provide an agreed quantity of water, the King would pay 9,000 ducats and the Municipality would pay 1,900 ducats annually to him and his descendants.

Construction of the Artificio was completed in 1569, and it exceeded expectations by supplying 50 per cent more water than forecasted. This success led to the approval of the construction of two more artificios adjacent to the original one; work on the second began immediately.

Unfortunately, the economics of the venture were not successful. The King failed to pay any money towards the project, while at the same time his Alcázar monopolized all the water. Furthermore, the Municipality refused to pay its share if there was no supply of water for the city. Turriano wrote numerous letters seeking to resolve the situation, and in 1575, a new agreement was drawn up in which the King agreed to pay for the second Artificio,

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which was completed in 1581. The difficulties continued, however, and only just before his death in 1585 did Turriano receive any money from the King.

Despite debts left to Turriano’s heirs, they nevertheless operated the artificios for several years. In fact, the original Artificio remained in operation until 1605, when attempts were made to modernize it, but finally it was dismantled in 1639. Remnants of it, including the original wheel, could be seen in Toledo until the end of the 19th century, after which it disappeared.

Juanelo Turriano’s Toledo achievements became known worldwide, and there are many references to him by contemporary visitors to Toledo in many technical texts. Without precise information on Turriano’s design of the Artificio, hypotheses have been advanced, the oldest probably by Luis de la Escosura in a paper published in 1888. Theodor Beck developed models proposed by Escosura in 1899, and two generations later, in 1967, Ladislao Reti offered another design hypothesis from which Juan Luis Peces constructed a scale model. In 1987, Julio Porres designed yet another version, and in the 1990s, Nicolás Garcia Tapia modified some details of this model.

Not surprisingly, Jufre-Garcia presents here a new model of the Artificio.

After analysing a 1575 description by Ambrosio de Morales, Jufre-Garcia concludes that the Artificio used a mechanical device known as the Roberto Valturio stairs or scissors. For Jufre-Garcia, this model is the one that conforms most closely not only to Morales’ description but also to the references contained in several manuscripts. His arguments are quite convincing, and he offers a new detailed design of all the parts of the Artificio. On his website, one can find his reconstruction of the whole device plus some multimedia reconstructions: http://www.artificiodejuanelo.org.

The book also includes detailed calculations for the whole complex system, and the result is very interesting from the perspective of what one might call practical or technical history. From an academic view, however, JufreGarcia’s work has important weaknesses: the presentation of the text is confused, the bibliographical references are repeated and the quotation of sources is inexact, all problems that could have been resolved with a general revision of the text. In addition, however, the historical background is not always convincing. Arguing on behalf of Juanelo Turriano’s abilities, JufreGarcia refers to the study made by the Italian engineer on Giovanni de Dondi’s Astrarium, in which devices like the Valturio stairs were used. In an appendix, Jufre-Garcia presents the mechanical operation of De Dondi’s Astrarium, with an introduction to the cosmological systems of antiquity, but in this section, Jufre-Garcia´s lack of historical background is most evident.

In sum, Jufre-Garcia offers an interesting proposal for the mechanical operation of Juanelo Turriano’s Artificio, but his model could be better contextualized from a historiographical point of view. This might have been

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attained if Jufre-Garcia had collaborated with historians focusing on Renaissance technology in Spain.

Antoni Roca-Rosell, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – Barcelona Tech

Ignacio González Tascón and Isabel Velásquez. Ingeniería romana en Hispania. Historia y técnicas constructivas. Madrid: Fundación Juanelo Turriano, 2005. Pp. 542. j50.

Ignacio González and Isabel Velázquez take the reader on a journey through time and space as they describe Roman engineering in Hispania. First, they show and explain a large number of materials and works, and then define over 1,500 Latin terms to their topic. After a brief history of Hispania, the authors’ first chapters provide examples and narratives of authorities in ancient architecture, such as Vitruvius, pointing out the development of materials and construction techniques. Subsequent chapters concern the planning and building of numerous works; from roads, their pavements and wells to aqueducts, ports and domes. However, this is not a kind of catalogue.

Rather the authors write with a smooth and pleasant pen, which is well illustrated in their description of the technical importance of the keystones to make sturdier arches, as well as in their explanation of the development and application of concrete and other materials.

Moreover, the author’s take the reader on a trip, if you will, from one city to another, where seeing these works permits one to know something about everyday life, as well as the economic and political configuration of Hispania.

They reveal the existence of specialized technicians who met the different needs of Hispania. For example, they offer a careful description of the steps needed to perform a hydraulic work which includes location of sources, the design of methods to deal with topography and distance, concern for the durability of the structure and, if the water was intended for human consumption, the purity of the liquid.

Thus, Roman engineering is reflected in this book not only through their material works, but also equally through durable prints that act as words. The Latin terms that accompany the reading help us to know the names of ancient cities and workers at each stage of construction. There is a very large glossary of people and their activities in civil engineering, the entries of which are, in most cases, accompanied by a quotation in Latin and Spanish that illustrates more about the use.

This study is supported by direct observation, review and analysis of material remains and an extensive bibliography of ancient narratives and contemporary studies. The photographs and other images are of high qual-