Foto gentilmente concesse da Casa Editrice Bonechi

On one side of the Pompidou Centre, the modern pedestrianised quarter of the Horloge (Clock) owes its name to Jacques Monestier's famous clock which was installed there in 1979. Built out of brass and steel, the mechanism is set in motion and programmed electronically. At the striking of every hour, a figure armed with sword and shield combats and conquers the three animals which surround it, the symbols of the three elements: Dragon-Earth, Bird-Air, Crab-Sea.