Wooden sculptures

The external appearance of the astronomical clock has developed gradually since the 15th century. Originally, there was just a machine with the astronomical dial; later, wooden sculptures were added (mentioned in 1733 for the first time), followed by the Apostles and a mechanical cockerel. Thus the external appearance was finished.

On the clock, there are 4 pairs of wooden sculptures, which are described on this page, and the sculptures of the Apostles. The sculptures at the sides of the astronomical dial can move. Their motion is controlled by the machine that drives movement of the Apostles and other sculptures. For description, we will use their names as they are used now.

By clicking on individual elements of the picture, you will find a detailed description.

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( 1 The Cockerel This is not a wooden sculpture)

The cockerel’s crowing ends the march of the apostles. A gold-plated statue of the cockerel is under the ceiling of the apostles’ window. The sound comes out of a bag filled with compressed air which goes through three pipes. The bag gets pressed as the windows close. The cockerel was the last statue to appear on the Astronomical Clock in 19th century, although Jirásek had mentioned the cockerel in the legend about Mistr Hanuš.

2 Vanity

It is the first movable sculpture in the upper row. During the Apostles’ movement, it turns its head to look in the mirror in several ways. According to a common interpretation, it represents the vice of vanity and therefore must be afraid of Death. Another interpretation considers the sculpture a magician looking over the boundaries of the physical world by means of the mirror.

The last full renovation of the sculpture took place after the World War II and was performed by the wood?carver Ducháček (1948).

3 Greed

The figure of Greed shakes a purse and beckons with a stick while the Apostles’ march. Interpretations show the least inconsistency in this case, stating that the sculpture represents miserliness. It was recreated by the wood-carver J. Čech from Brno.

4 Death

The sculpture of Death is also movable. It twirls a sandglass, probably as a symbol of suspension of time, and pulls a bell rope. Death’s bell is located in the upper turret above the astronomical clock together with the chiming cimbalom.

5 Turk

Interpretations of the this sculpture, commonly called the Turk, differ from each other. Most often it is considered a symbol of pleasure as a vice. (It is also often called Lust.) Again, similarly to Vanity, we see a flower in bloom on its head. That is why esotericists seek its meaning elsewhere. The lower row of sculptures was formerly called collectively “Turks”; later they became the Philosopher, the Astronomer and the Chronicler after sculptor V. Sucharda completed them with various attributes.

6 Philosopher

The lower row of sculptures was formerly called collectively “Turks”; later they became the Philosopher, the Astronomer and the Chronicler after sculptor V. Sucharda completed them with various attributes.

7 Archangel Michael

Initially, the sculpture of Archangel Michael indicated with its spear the actual reading on the calendar plate; since Mánes slightly rotated the calendarium, it points at the indicator in the upper part of the dial. That means, it has probably been present on the astronomical clock since the calendar plate was installed. The oldest dated report reporting the name of the author is probably from 1787. It states that the wood?carver Ant. Schumann renovated 7 sculptures and created a new sculpture of an angel at a price of 22 zl. 30 kr.

8 Astronomer

The lower row of sculptures was formerly called collectively “Turks”; later they became the Philosopher, the Astronomer and the Chronicler after sculptor V. Sucharda completed them with various attributes.

9 Chronicler

The lower row of sculptures was formerly called collectively “Turks”; later they became the Philosopher, the Astronomer and the Chronicler after sculptor V. Sucharda completed them with various attributes.

The Middle Ages, times of extreme mysticism, expressed themselves in a symbolic language in fine arts. The meaning of individual allegories in the sculptural decoration of the astronomical clock is quite difficult to decipher today, although it was meant to be understandable even for “ignorant” people. Firstly, the artifacts themselves changed in the course of time (in this case, especially the wooden sculptures), and secondly, our knowledge changed as well. The sculptures have undergone a number of renovations and craft repairs and they were modified or even recreated. This somewhat wiped off the original intention. As reviewers, we do not have knowledge of that time and we are, on the contrary, influenced by earlier interpretations that often attributed contradictory symbolic meanings to the sculptures.

Today, we do not know exactly when the sculptures appeared on the astronomical clock and which sculptures they were. The oldest sources only mention a sculpture that we probably can match with Death. Around 1733, other “various sculptures” were mentioned. They were altogether wood-carvings by an unknown author. As it is assumed that the Apostles appeared on the clock later, the eventual movement of those sculptures must have been resolved by means of another machine that the one for the movement of the Apostles. The artistically valuable originals of early Baroque sculptures, which decorated the Old Town Astronomical Clock in the second half of the 17th century, were gradually replaced by several copies, as was also the case with Mánes’s calendar plate.

Time treats wooden sculptures adversely, so they are the most often renovated parts of the clock. Today, the sculptures on the clock are recent copies. The originals were destroyed several times, for the last time in 1945; even today they become targets of vandals’ attacks. They underwent larger renovations in 1999 and 2005.

In our description, we will try not to incline to any particular interpretation. It will be difficult because the names of the sculptures themselves bear some meaning. This meaning may not be entirely correct, as can be proved with the sculptures of the Astronomer or the Chronicler, which were only attributed with a telescope and a book by master Sucharda during renovation after 1945. The original sculptures may have had a different meaning. Let us remind us that the sculptures on the astronomical clock are not the original collection.

Movement of the sculptures

The movement of the sculptures itself is provided by a separate machine for the movement of the Apostles and sculptures by means of wires leading to levers attached to the bodies of the sculptures. The first part of the image shows the leverage of the movement “behind a corner” in the corner of the machine’s cell. The other pictures show the attachment to the movable parts of the sculptures.