A Timepiece and an Era

The centrepiece of the display is a spherical sundial made by Isaac Brouckner (or Bruckner), master craftsman of the Instrument Chamber of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences, and his pupil Piotr Osipovich Golynin.

“This timepiece is a symbol of the era of Peter the Great and his successors, telling about which is an important part of the Hermitage’s research and displays,” Mikhail Piotrovsky, General Director of the Hermitage, says. “Russia at that time was enthusiastically assimilating Europe’s scientific and technical achievements, managing in many ways to surpass them and to create the foundation of its own might. The symbolism of this received visual expression in works of fine art – views of Saint Petersburg and portraits of rulers standing at the head of the transformations and development.”

The device featured in the exhibition is highly significant. Alone of all those created in the Instrument Chamber, it was officially presented to the Russian monarch and carries a dedicatory inscription: “To the Victorious Empress ANNA IOANNOVNA, who by means of the armaments of SCIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE magnanimously defends and produces…”

The sundial takes the form of a terrestrial globe with a diameter of 16 centimetres and a height of 30, fitted with a complex arrangement of moving and fixed parts. The sphere is located within a meridional half-ring that is attached to the vertical stand in such a way that it can be moved and is fitted with a set of rings that rotate together, but independently of the globe itself. It is this arrangement that allows the device to perform a large number of functions.

As with any portable sundial, this one is equipped with a compass fitted in the base, and there are are also screws that can be used to put the device in a perfectly level working position. The sundial’s gnomon does not cast a shadow, as is usually the case, but on the contrary projects a little patch of sunlight.

All the inscriptions on the globe were made in Russian: the main countries and cities are named; the continents, relief and major rivers are shown. An engraved cartouche beneath an imperial crown contains the dedication. Beneath the cartouche, a modest line of small letters reads: brukner izda. That is the maker’s signature: “Brouckner produced”.

The device makes it possible to find out the time not only at its current location, but also at any other point on the globe. It can provide assistance with practical astronomical tasks: determining the Sun’s declination and its position in the ecliptic, the times of sunrise and sunset for any point on Earth, and many other things.

In 1735 this masterpiece of mechanical art was presented to Empress Anna Ioannovna by the President of the Academy of Sciences, Baron Johann Albrecht von Korff. It was a truly valuable gift, since sundials measure time (in contrast to mechanical timepieces that “keep” it). Right up until the invention of high-precision chronometers, mechanical clocks and watches would be checked against sundials.

The device being presented in the exhibition recently underwent complete restoration in the State Hermitage’s Laboratory for the Scientific Restoration of Timepieces and Musical Mechanisms (restorer Yury Solovyev). It was dismantled fully, and all the parts were cleaned of soiling and oxidation. Deformations were corrected and lost fittings recreated. Also, since the actual proportions of the object require it to be placed on a higher base that the one with which it was fitted, a pedestal was produced for display purposes.

This remarkable gnomonic (relating to the science of using sundials) device is at the same time a striking artefact of its era. Its original design deserves to be put on show and revealed in detail. At the exhibition, visitors will see not only the sundial itself, but also a video explaining the device’s construction and how it should be used.

We know that the era of Peter the Great was marked by a host of transformations in the Russian state. Among other things, the innovations elevated fundamental and applied science to a completely new and very high level, and along with them the closely related field of instrument-making.

Subsequently, interest in scientific devices and experiments did not diminish in Russia, and continued to be encouraged by the monarchs. Under Catherine I, the instrument chamber was created at the Academy of Sciences. The Kunstkammer acquired a memorial section – the “Cabinet of Peter the Great” that brought together all the Emperor’s personal collections, including his numerous scientific devices and instruments. During the reign of Catherine II, instrumental and clock-making classes began operating at the Academy of Arts, marking a new period in the evolution of the “mechanical arts” in Russia.

An image of the era is created by the painted portraits of Peter the Great, Empresses Anna Ioannovna, Elizabeth and Catherine II included in the exhibition, as well as a splendid panoramic view of Saint Petersburg in the last years of Catherine the Great’s reign. On that canvas one can see the Winter Palace, the northern part of the Small Hermitage, the Old Hermitage and the Hermitage Theatre, buildings that today go to make up the Main Museum Complex of the State Hermitage.

The exhibition’s curator is Grigory Borisovich Yastrebinsky, senior researcher in the State Hermitage’s Department of the History of Russian Culture.