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Description
The clock is mounted on top of a triumphal arch of red and white
antique marble. The façade has four agate
pilasters with Corinthian
capitals and bases of gilt
bronze. Between the pilasters are four panels of lapis
lazuli and two of micromosaic bearing military trophies. The
vault of the arch is faced with red marble caissons decorated with
gilt-bronze rosettes. On the interior and exterior sides of the
pilasters are panels of jasper
and lapis lazuli framed in gilt-bronze beading and edged in red
antique marble. The colonnade on the front consists of four amethyst
columns with Corinthian capitals and gilt-bronze bases; the cornice
and top are of red antique marble; the frieze
is white marble decorated with ox skulls of gilt bronze.
The top part of the clock consists of a
marble block on a granite
base, edged with red antique marble, with pilasters of jasper and
panels of lapis lazuli. At the centre, the clock dial is surmounted
by a trophy of arms in gilt bronze with a winged Victory on one
side and Fame on the other, plus an eagle and cockerel on the corners.
At the centre of the arch is a statuette of Mars in gilt bronze
on a stone base.
The marble structure is signed on the back
GIACOMO RAFAELLI / FECE ANNO 1804. The clock has a calendar hand
and engine-turned surround, quarter-striking movement numbered 304
and stamped IPCR, and outside rack striking. Upon the upper clock
face are the words BREGUET / A PARIS.,
Commentary
This masterpiece of neoclassical design and workmanship is signed
and dated by the foremost mosaicist in Rome, Giacomo Raffaelli,
in 1804. The figures on the clock are of great virtuosity and may
have been made in Raffaelli's workshop in the Via S Sebastianello.
The maker of the clock movement was Abraham-Louis
Breguet, a genius in the history of European horology. Sent by his
stepfather to study watchmaking at the College Mazarin in Versailles
when he was fifteen, he displayed an extraordinary talent that brought
him to the attention of royal clients. By 1775, he had opened his
own shop in Paris at quai d'Horlogue, where he dedicated himself
to perfecting complex and costly instruments like the self-winding
watch, a speciality that earned him international renown and many
patrons.
The clock was among the gifts chosen by
Antonio Canova (1757-1822) to be taken to Paris by Pius VII, who
had been asked to preside over Napoleon Bonaparte's consecration
and coronation as Emperor. The clock later found its way to Malmaison,
one of the luxurious residences the Emperor had acquired for Josephine
before their marriage was dissolved. It is listed in her death inventory
of 1814.
Glossaries
agate
- a hard stone with strips of colour
pilaster - a rectangular column with a capital
and a base, projecting only slightly from a wall as an ornamental
motif
Corinthian - one of the classical orders of Greek
architecture
capital - the top part of a column
gilt, gilding - the embellishment of silver, bronze
or other material with a thin layer of gold
lapis lazuli - an opaque blue stone used as a semiprecious
gem
jasper - a gemstone, usually coloured red from
iron impurities
amethyst - translucent violet variety of quartz
used as a gemstone
frieze - a decorative horizontal band
granite- a course-grained rock
back to the
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the
Gilbert silver