A protest has been filed with the Ministry of Culture against the 2018 renovation of Prague’s famed astronomical clock. The complaint specifically mentions the copy of the original calendar on the Old Town Clock by Josef Mánes. Several of the statistics on the calendar have altered drastically, according to Milan Patka of the Club for Old Prague.
The reconstructed Old Town Clock was unveiled in 2018 with much fanfare and ceremony, but it has only recently come to light that the copy of Josef Mánes’ calendar, which is admired by millions of tourists all year round, is a far cry from the original, which is housed in the Prague City Museum.
The bright and sparkling new calendar on the lower dial of the Prague astronomical clock appears to be a successful replica of the original at first look, but closer investigation reveals that the maker of the copy, artist Stanislav Jirk, took a lot of creative license in duplicating Mánes’ work.
According to Milan Patka of the Club for Old Prague, which filed a protest against it, the modifications are significant and have no justification.
The Eagle watch is made up of two primary components that are placed vertically. An astronomical dial in the middle displays Old Czech, Babylonian, Central European (modern), and sidereal time, as well as the times of dawn and sunset, the location of the Sun and Moon among the stars included in the zodiac circle, and the phases of the Moon. Beneath the astronomical dial is a calendar dial that allows you to calculate the day and month of the calendar year, the day of the week, non-working days, and Christian calendar perpetual holidays.
Around 1880, a duplicate of the clock’s calendar plate was installed. The original, created by Josef Manes, is on display in the Prague City Museum.
The clock is embellished with sculptural figures and figures with moving elements that demonstrate the performance during the ringing of the chimes and are the third component of the Prague Chimes.
Presentation of the Prague Chimes
The most renowned and frequented moment is during the war, when the Prague Chimes display a portrayal of moving figures.
Twelve apostles appear in the clock’s two top panes, replacing one another.
Above the stone still sculpture of an angel, positioned between the 12 apostles’ windows, is a figure of a golden rooster, which represents life and crows at the end of the apostles’ parade. The immobile gilded figure of the rooster was added to the astronomical clock in 1880-1882, along with the rooster’s singing, which is made by squeezing the bellows when closing the windows.
Additional sculptures on the astronomical dial’s sides are also participating in the performance.
On the right side of the dial is a Death figure in the form of a human skeleton, which rings, rotates an hourglass, and communicates to the Turkish figure standing next to it (who represents passion) that his time has come to an end.
Figures of Vanity and Avarice may be found on the other side of the dial (left). Vanity is represented by the leftmost figure, which depicts a person staring into a mirror that he holds in his hand. Throughout the performance, the vanity figure nods while staring in the mirror. Avarice, a figure representing a guy carrying a bag of money, is next to vanity. Throughout the performance, Avarice rattles the bag and jerks his head disapprovingly.
Figurines of Death and the Turk
Figures of Vanity and Avarice
The Philosopher, Archangel Michael, Astronomer, and Chronicler are shown on opposite sides of the calendar dial. These figurines do not move or participate in the performance.
The date was initially marked on the calendar dial by the spear of the Archangel Michael figure, but after Josef Manes painted and turned the second calendar dial (the original has not been preserved), the date pointer is now situated at the top of the dial. As a result, the archangel on the clock was most likely installed since the advent of the calendar. The earliest documented record identifying the first archangel figure on the chimes is from 1787.
Only after the Second World War did a wooden polychrome figure of a philosopher with a pen and a parchment scroll appear on the clock in its current shape. Wojteh Suharda wrote this.
The wooden polychrome figure of an astronomer with binoculars initially portrayed a Prague resident, and it wasn’t until after WWII that Wojteh Suhard added a telescope to the figure.
Voytech Sukhard created the wooden polychrome figure of the chronicler with the book in its current shape after WWII.
