Objekt 7
Allegory of transience (stained glass)
Description
The octagonal glass pane made of one piece shows Chronos, the allegory of time, spreading a cloth with painted sundial dial in front of his body. The scythe he also holds in his hand and a skeleton of the dead symbolize transience. The unusual arrangement of the numerals comes from the fact that with a sundial in the form of a glass disc, the time can be read on the back, in contrast to sundials on buildings: the disc hangs inside a room and receives light from behind, i.e. from the outside. The gnomon, on the other hand, must be outside in order to cast the desired shadow.
Object description
Manufacturer: probably Johann Rudolf Huber (1668-1748)
Basel, 1731
Glass
Inscription: the time get hin / här kombt der Tod / O Mensch betrachts / und ferchte Gott. / 1731.
Purchase
Inv. 1888.95.