On this tour, Sophia Scott ’25 will explore how objects have embodied and enforced conceptions of time throughout history. Looking closely at three works, the tour starts with an ancient Egyptian bronze, Horus falcon, which holds a mummified bird skeleton from more than 2,500 years ago. Moving chronologically, it continues on to Otto van Meurs’s richly symbolic longcase musical clock (Dutch, c. 1750–75), which keeps accurate time to this day. The tour concludes with The Gare Saint-Lazare: Arrival of a Train (1877), a painting by Claude Monet made at a time when long-distance train travel prompted standardization across time zones.

Spotlight Tours offer a chance to explore the collections of the Harvard Art Museums through the eyes of a Harvard student. Free and open to the public, these tours start outside the museum shop on Saturdays and Sundays at 11am and 2pm. Drop in and join the conversation! And find out what the Student Guides are up to anytime on Instagram @harvardarthappens.

Please check in with museum staff at the Admissions desk in the Calderwood Courtyard to request to join the tour. Tours are limited to 18 people and are available on a first-come, first-served basis; no registration is required.