I love elaborate clocks - particularly the large, public clocks of the late Middle Ages, and others inspired by them. The best tell not only the time, but considerable astronomical information with various hand and dials - more elaborate models including the month and date; the position of the sun, moon, and zodiac on the ecliptic; the nodes and phases of the moon; and even eclipses and the computus for Easter. The most beautiful have geocentric models of the universe; medieval symbols of the zodiac and seasons; humorous allegorical statues and automata, clock-jacks ringing bells on the hour, crowing roosters or singing cuckoos, mechanical organs, and processions of tiny statues. They are among the most engaging works of art or mechanics ever created.
Some of the more famous ones are featured in this post, hopefully the first in a series.
NOTE: I've been updating the pictures as I find superior images of these clocks. Some of them no longer match the linked images.
On the Old Town Hall of Prague. More here, here, here, here, and here.
In Strasbourg Cathedral. More here, here, and here.
In Wells Cathedral. More here and here.
In Old Bern. More here and here.
In St. Mary's Church in Gdansk. More here and here.
In Lund Cathedral. More here and here.
In Rouen. More here.
On Nuremberg Frauenkirche. More here.
In Lyon Cathedral.
In Olomouc.
On the Jagiellonian University in Kracow. One of the figures in the hourly procession is St. John Cantius.
