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Clock Tower in Piazza San Marco on Epiphany - Photo: Cat Bauer
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(Venice, Italy) Today, the Angel Gabriel, blowing his horn, appeared out on the Clock Tower here in Venice, followed by the Three Magi, who bowed and saluted to the Madonna and Child, something they only do twice a year-- today, the Epiphany, and again on Ascension Day.
The Clock Tower, or
Torre dell'Orologio, was inaugurated on February 1, 1499, more than 500 years ago. Rich with symbolism, the Venetians designed an astronomical clock, which moves through the signs of the Zodiac, as well as keeping time.
On the top of the tower are two enormous bronze statues known as the Moors, more than eight and a half feet tall (2.6 meters) -- one old, one young -- two Wild Men who swing a hammer to clang out the passage of time. The Moors are nude under their sheaths of vines, and are well-endowed (yes, I looked).
Beneath the Moors on the top of the Clock Tower is the winged Lion of San Marco, the symbol of Venice, holding an open book. Originally, there was a statue of Doge Agostino Barbarigo kneeling before the lion, but when Napoleon's soldiers invaded Venice in 1797, down it came.
Gabriel and the Wise Men used to come out every hour when the clock was first constructed, but they haven't done that for centuries. Now, they emerge just those two days a year — at midday on the Epiphany and on Ascension Day — and if you are not there at the precise moment to witness it, it is over in a flash. Otherwise, the doors where they exit and enter show the hour in Roman numerals on the left, and every five minutes in Hindu-Arabic on the right.
Gabriel and the Three Magi came out today, bells clamoring throughout Piazza San Marco. For the rest of the year, they reside inside the clock. You can see them if you take the
Clock Tower tour. I went on the tour many years ago when I wrote a piece about it back in 2008 as the
Venice Insider for Ninemsn, and I thought it was fascinating. Back then, interesting, quirky people took the Clock Tower tour:
Cinderella Bells
Only a handful of people usually show up for the tour of the inner workings of the newly restored St Mark's Clock,
which was first inaugurated on February 1, 1499 by Doge Agostino
Barbarigo. Five hundred years ago, Venetians built an astronomical clock
that had five planets which moved around the earth (only the sun and
the moon remain), two Moors that struck the time two minutes before and
after the hour, and three Magi that circled the Madonna.
For half a
millennium, a watchman actually lived with his family in the Clock
Tower; the last one left in 1998. After almost a decade of arguing about
restoration procedures, the clock was finally up and running again in
2006. Aga is the name of one vivacious and informative guide who does
English tours. A visit to the clock tower also offers one of the most
spectacular views of Venice.
I have long become accustomed to telling time by the bells
of Venice. I don't wear a watch; the bells tell me when to wake up,
when to go to sleep, when I am running late, or ahead of schedule.
From the Cambridge Dictionary:
a moment when you suddenly feel that you understand, or suddenly become conscious of, something that is very important to you
a powerful religious experience
Of course, the Epiphany is also the day of the Befana, when male Venetians in drag dress as female witches and race on the Grand Canal. I have written about the singular event many, many times before. Click to read one of my favorites:
Giant Wild Men clanging an enormous bell... The Lion of San Marco.... The Madonna and Child... the Angel Gabriel and Three Magi circling... An astronomical clock that moves through the signs of the Zodiac.... constructed during the Renaissance in Venice... Things to ponder during the Epiphany.
Today, the Angel Gabriel, blowing his horn, appeared out on the Clock Tower here in Venice, followed by the Three Magi, who bowed and saluted to the Madonna and Child, something they only do twice a year-- today, Epiphany, and again on Ascension Day.
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