The Orloj, Engraved — 1837

Before the photograph, the print: the Orloj engraved in 1837, its tower and dials rendered in the crisp romantic line of the Biedermeier print trade. An astronomical clock is a public complication — a machine that tells a whole square the hour, the calendar, and the state of the heavens at once — and the engraver treats it accordingly, as portraiture. Paired with Fridrich's photograph of a generation later, it makes a small history of how we looked at the same machine.

Maker

after Czermak / Kandler

Date

1837

Medium of the original

Engraving of the Prague astronomical clock

Original held by

via Wikimedia Commons

Credit

via Wikimedia Commons · via Wikimedia Commons

Rights

Public domain, verified

Catalogue number

PA-00540