Emperor's Monument Clock in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 2020

Title: The Emperor's Monument Clock

Workshop director: Attributed to the workshop of Wenzel Jamnitzer (German, Vienna 1507/8–1585 Nuremberg)

Date: ca. 1570-1600

Culture: German, Nuremberg and Augsburg(?)

Medium: Metal (gilded), silver (gilded, enameled), ironwork, ebony,
inlays of jasper and lapis lazuli

Dimensions: 16 1/8 × 5 7/8 in. (41 × 15 cm)

Classification: Horology-Clocks

Credit Line: Landesmuseum Württemberg, Stuttgart

This timepiece depicts Holy Roman Emperor Charles V enthroned under a state baldachin, which holds the clockface. The six figural reliefs below include Apollo (god of sun and light), Venus, and Mars, all allusions to astrology. The clock would have required the collaboration of at least three specialized workshops: a clockmaker, a cabinetmaker, and a sculptor-goldsmith (possibly Wenzel Jamnitzer) to model the figures. The classical statuary, symmetrical ebony octagon, map of Habsburg territory, and precision timepiece join together to suggest the idealized orderly rule of Charles V.

Text from: www3.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/774646