Orrery clock 1790

Louis Thouverez crafted this orrery clock, a miniature moving model of our solar system, in the late 18th or early 19th century. Encircling the clock's base, we see a serpent, a powerful emblem of cyclical time. The serpent, Ouroboros, devouring its own tail, is a primal image, a symbol resonating across millennia. It appears in ancient Egypt, gnostic traditions, alchemy, and Norse mythology, representing the eternal return, the cycles of life, death, and rebirth. The serpent coils around the clock, a reminder that time itself is not linear but cyclical, constantly renewing itself. The emotional resonance of the serpent lies in its paradoxical nature. It embodies both destruction and creation, darkness and light. It invites us to contemplate the transient nature of existence. Here, the Ouroboros does not merely decorate the clock, it transforms it into a meditation on time's relentless, eternal journey, its emotional power engaging us on a profound level.