Carved wood and clockwork devil automaton in Milan from the 16th century

Photo by Bob Frishman, 2013

This devil automaton now housed at a museum in Milan was made by taking a sixteenth-century torso -- possibly that of Christ at the Column -- and applying a clockwork mechanism to it. The automaton when cranked would turn its head and eyes, stick out the its tongue, and make an inarticulate sound. A seventeenth-century description mentions horns and a collar which are now lost.

The piece is part of the Applied Arts Collections Museum in the Sforza Castle in Milan, Italy. Another interesting blog posts about this devil automaton can be found on the io9 blog.

[ Thanks to Bob Frishman of Bell-Time Clocks for the discovery and photo! ]

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