Clock Figure of Death Mounted on a Lion
Thomas Teichmann (Signatur)
Central Franconia, 1513
Limewood with traces of the original polychrome painting
143,5 x 61,0 x 108,5 cm
Inv.-Nr. MA 3450
From Heilsbronn Minster, Central Franconia, acquired before 1867
Gallery 15
The clock from which this figure was taken originally stood in the chancel of the abbey church at Heilsbronn. Death tolled the hours with a bone; his right arm moved with an iron joint. His lower jaw and the lion's tongue were also linked to the mechanism, which was concealed in Death's hollow back. The sculptor of Death and the lion took payment of seven guilders in 1513 for them; the entire clock cost 73 guilders. Marking the inexorable flow of time, the clock here represents – not unusually for earlier times – death and the transience of all earthly things.
des Bayerischen Nationalmuseum
des Bayerischen Nationalmuseum
