Old Town Hall with Astronomical Clock, Prague

I look to nature and my travels through Europe, USA and Asia for inspirations for my paintings. ‘Old Town Hall with Astronomical Clock, Prague’ began as a plein air study during my painting trip to Prague in Czech Republic.
The Old Town Hall, with its medieval tower and Astronomical Clock, has been dominant in the Old Town Square of Prague for centuries. Mounted on the southern wall of Old Town Hall, the Prague Astronomical Clock (Prague Orloj) has been an important symbol of Prague for over 600 years. Built in 1410, its the third oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest clock still operating. The Clock mechanism has three main components:
-At the top is the windows with wooden figures of apostles which appear in the windows every hour, while at the same time some of the sculptures around the Clock begin to move.
-The Astronomical Dial in the middle consists of a bold representation of the Sun, Earth and Moon in the sky, showing the medieval perception of the Universe. The three circles on the dial track different times: the outer circle with Schwabacher numerals shows Old Czech Time, the circle with Roman numbers shows Central European Time, the inner circle with Arabic numerals shows Babylonian Time and the little star by the zodiac ring shows Sidereal Time. The Prague Astronomical Clock is the last and only one in the world to do so!
-The Calendar Dial underneath describes every single day of the year and medallions of paintings with zodiac signs depict every month in the rotary outer circle.

Prague's Astronomical Clock was considered one of the wonders of the world in the middle ages and I really enjoyed painting the Old Town Hall's medieval building and this timeless art innovation in this piece.