Mercury - Cardiff Castle, Wales.
N 51° 28.877 W 003° 10.929
30U E 487351 N 5703363
Mercury a Planet nearest the Sun, and the mythical Roman god principally associated with commerce and messenger to the Gods.
Waymark Code: WMEAFP
Location: South Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/27/2012
Views: 6
Mercury, messenger of the Roman gods and has been known since at least the time of the Sumerians (3rd millennium BC). Of all the planets in our solar system, the one that moves most quickly against the background of the stars was naturally named after the swift-footed Hermes and the Romans identified their own god of commerce, Mercury, with Hermes, and so we know the planet as Mercury.
The Cardiff Castle Clock Tower is highly decorative. The main features are seven 9 feet tall figures representing the planets, one of these is Mercury, dressed in a Red and gold medieval costume, The figures stand on pedestals and hold attributes relating to their sign of the Zodiac.
"Original building on the site of Cardiff Castle began almost 2,000 years ago and culminated in the nineteenth century with the fantastical High Gothic structure that we see today. The present Cardiff Castle evolved from a house owned by the 3rd Marquis of Bute who enlisted the extraordinary skills of the architect William Burges (1827–81) to redesign the structure and its interiors. Burges unveiled designs for the clock tower exterior and its sculptures at the Royal Academy in 1870.
Seven nine-foot high statues have guarded the tower since it was built, between 1869 and 1873, but over the last century attempts to repaint and decorate the figures have altered their original appearance.
Externally, the Clock Tower represents one of the least accessible but most visible examples of Burges’ work at Cardiff Castle. A century of overpainting meant that the intended decorative schemes were no longer apparent. Uncovering tests revealed the difficulty inherent in restoring these schemes, as it was impossible to remove overpaint without causing damage to the significant underlying paint archaeology. Reconstruction through repainting was therefore desirable to restore the artistic completeness of the decoration.
Portrayed in medieval costume, the statues are known as Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sol, Venus, Mercury, and Luna. This listing features 'Mercury' sculpted By Thomas Nicholls."
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Redecoration of the Clock Tower:- (
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