An astronomical clock with earthly and mechanical celestial globes is an important monument in the history of astronomy, geography, scientific instruments and culture.
A complex instrument, it was commissioned by Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II from two craftsmen of Augsburg, Georg Roll and Johannes Reinhold, and was presented to the Russian tsar. But many years passed before it entered the Hermitage collections and over time it suffered numerous losses. The astronomical clock has now been conserved and restored by skilled craftsmen at the Hermitage Museum, thanks to the support of the museum’s longstanding partners on technical projects, Samsung, as part of the Connected Times – Connected Technology Programme. Today the clock appears before the public as it was in 1584, the year it was made, both in terms of its rich and fine décor and its full functionality. The exhibition represents the fruits of a collaboration between conservators and scholarly research staff of the State Hermitage Museum.
