Catalog - Best of St Petersburg |
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Photo 92 out of 191 |
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Hermitage Museum
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| Russia Tour - May 14-26 2019
May 24 - St Petersburg Tour of the Hermitage Museum The centerpiece of the Pavilion is the magnificent Peacock Clock, commissioned for Catherine by one of her favorites, Gregory Potemkin, whose portrait we admired back in the Field Marshall's Hall. This gilded extravaganza, designed in the mid-eighteenth century by the English master James Cox, features a plethora of moving wildlife including a dragonfly, owl, squirrel, and most impressively a self-confident peacock perched in an oak tree who, at the appropriate time spreads its voluminous feathers, rotates 360 degrees, and makes a stately bow, after which the nearby rooster crows. The entire mechanism still runs like, ahem, clockwork, although only at a few specific scheduled times. But wait, where is the actual clock? If you look closely, you'll see the dial with roman numerals incorporated into the head of a mushroom to the right of the squirrel. |
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Photo Date: 2019-05-24, 10:13:30 |
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© 2019 Gordon Greeniaus |
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Catalog Created: 3/1/22 |
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