St Mark's Clocktower

What you are looking at

The image shows the great clock face on the side of the tower that looks toward the lagoon. A ring of white marble carries the 24 hours of the day in Roman numerals, I to XXIV. Inside it, a dial of deep blue enamel holds the twelve signs of the zodiac in gilded relief: the ram, the bull, the twins, the crab and the rest, each a small sculpted figure. A golden sun on a long pointer travels around the ring to mark the hour. At the center, among fixed gold stars, sit the earth and a small sphere for the moon, which turns to show its phases.

The zodiac signs are original to the 1490s. They move slightly more slowly than the sun pointer, so the clock also tracks the sun's progress through the year.

Who built it

The Venetian Senate commissioned a new public clock in 1493, after the old one had fallen into poor condition. The mechanism was made by a father and son from Reggio Emilia, Gian Paolo and Gian Carlo Rainieri. Work on the tower began in 1496, and the clock was inaugurated on 1 February 1499. The design of the tower is attributed to the architect Mauro Codussi on stylistic grounds, though no document confirms it. The side wings were added in the early 1500s.

The rest of the tower

Above the clock face, a gallery holds a gilded Virgin and Child. On either side, panels show the hour in Roman numerals and the minutes, in five-minute steps, in Arabic numerals. Higher still, the winged lion of Saint Mark, emblem of Venice, stands against a blue field scattered with stars. At the top, two bronze figures known as the Moors, for the dark patina of the metal, strike the hours on a great bell. They were cast in bronze in 1494, and the bell, cast in 1497, is signed by Simeone Campanato.

Twice a year, at Epiphany and Ascension, figures of the three Magi led by an angel emerge from a side door, bow to the Virgin and Child and pass out through the other.

Restoration and visiting

The mechanism has been altered many times, notably by Bartolomeo Ferracina in the 1750s and in the nineteenth century. The most extensive restoration took place between 1998 and 2006. The archway at the tower's base opens onto the Merceria, the main shopping street to the Rialto.

Guided visits climb narrow stairs past the mechanism to the roof terrace and must be booked in advance. For other views of Venice in the catalogue, see Monet's The Palazzo Ducale Seen from San Giorgio Maggiore, The Grand Canal in Venice and Sunset in Venice.