Automaton clock in the form of the Madonna and Child

Automaton clock in the form of the Madonna and Child

Nikolaus Schmidt the Elder

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Automaton clocks are related to the mechanized figures that adorned medieval clock towers, where the Madonna and Child could appear as part of a mechanical theater on feast days. Small domestic automata with religious themes were popular in the seventeenth century and versions of this model, like many of the period, were cast in quantity. Here, the Madonna’s crown functions as a clock dial and her scepter points to the hour.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Automaton clock in the form of the Madonna and ChildAutomaton clock in the form of the Madonna and ChildAutomaton clock in the form of the Madonna and ChildAutomaton clock in the form of the Madonna and ChildAutomaton clock in the form of the Madonna and Child

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.