Picture clock with Alster panorama
The Picture clock with Alster Panorama (German: Bilderuhr mit Alsterpanorama) also known as Coffeeparty on the Alster with view to Lombardbridge over the city is an oil painting with integrated mechanical clock, automata, and music box in the collection of the Hamburg Museum.[1] 74cm x 89cm in size, It was made between 1827 and 1830 by unknown artist or workshop[2] and was restored by the museum in 2012.
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 description of the subjects visible in the painting | |
| description of the mechanical aspects and their restoration |
The foreground of the painting shows a group of people drinking coffee in a park on the banks of the Außenalster lake. They are accompanied by musicians and children. The background shows the Lombardsbrücke (Lombard Bridge) and behind that a panorama of the city of Hamburg. From left-to-right the recognisable buildings are:
- St. James' Church (Hauptkirche St. Jacobi)
- A windmill on the Alster glacis (which had been recently converted from city fortification to public park)
- The Hamburg workhouse (Werk- und Zuchthaus)
- St Peter's church (St. Petri)
- St. Catherine's Church (St. Katharinen)
- St. Nicholas' church (St.Nikolai)
These landmarks indicates that the scene is set on the Western bank of the Außenalster and oriented directly towards the South. St Peters', St. Nicholas', and the workhouse were all destroyed in the Great Fire of Hamburg, 12-15 years after the painting was made. The wooden Lombard Bridge was replaced in the1860s with the version known today and in 1953 the parallel Kennedy Bridge (originally called the "New Lombardsbrücke") was built. It now obscures the Lombard Bridge from the painting's viewpoint.
Mechanical elements
The several church towers feature working clocks. Other mechanically operated elements of the scene are:
- the windmill turning
- two children playing cup-and-ball
- a harpist's and a violinist's arms moving
- various boats moving across the lake
- foot and horse-borne traffic crossing the bridge
- a fisherman's rod
References
- ^ "Bilderuhr mit Alsterpanorama". www.hamburgmuseum.de (in German). Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte. Retrieved 2016-04-26.
- ^ "Kaffeegesellschaft an der Alster mit Blick über Lombardsbrücke auf die Stadt (Uhrenbild - Bilderuhr)". www.europeana.eu. Retrieved 2016-04-26.