Image:Herculaneum Fresco 001.jpg

This fresco from a house in Herculaneum contains something strange: The small woman on the left appears to have no legs. On closer look, we notice that a lever appears to be mounted within the right arm of the figure, moving in a slit up and down. Possibly a kind of club is attached to this lever, beating against the box held by the figure. There is also a slot at the bottom of the figure, part of something that looks like a drawer extruding from the figure. To the bottom right of the figure there is a straight line, which may indicate that it is standing in or mounted on a niche. Given the proportions, the slot at the bottom, the missing legs, and the lever, it seems natural to assume that this is a mechanical device, possibly a clock, and not a human being. (As noted above, statues in ancient Rome were typically painted.) (Image color-corrected but not retouched.)

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