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Centina

A traditional positioning system used with compasses to transfer measured sculptural points from a model to stone.

Short Definition

A traditional compass-pointing system for transferring measured points.

Difficulty

Intermediate

Language Origin

Italian

Pronunciation

chen-TEE-nah

Centina is one of the positioning systems used in traditional compass pointing. Le voci del marmo documents its use for placing additional capipunti and for locating a precise or “true” point on the model and transferring it to the marble.

Etymology

Italian centina commonly denotes a supporting or shaping frame; in this workshop context it names a positioning system used in pointing.

Sculptor Notes

The important idea is repeatability: a measurement becomes useful only when its spatial relationship to the reference framework can be recreated on the block.

References

https://levocidelmarmo.sns.it/lista_video.php