Explore the Design of this artwork, Alma Mater (New York sculpture).
The statue represents a personification of the traditional image of the university as an alma mater, or "nourishing mother", draped in an academic gown and seated on a throne. She wears a laurel wreath on her head and holds in her right hand a scepter made of four sprays of wheat which are capped by a King's Crown, a traditional symbol of the university. A book, representing learning, rests on her lap. The arms of her throne end in lamps, representing "Sapientia et Doctrina", or "Wisdom and Learning"; on the back of the throne is embossed an image of the seal of the university.An owl, a symbol of knowledge and learning, is hidden in the folds of Alma Mater's cloak near her left leg. There has been some speculation on the exact meaning of the owl, including by history professor Dwight C. Miner, who believed that the owl was a reference to the Psi Upsilon fraternity, of which Miner believed French to have been a member. In 1953, French's daughter, Margaret French Cresson, clarified in a letter to The New York Times that it "represents no fraternity and poses no labyrinthine riddle. The owl is the age-old symbol of wisdom and was used by the sculptor to convey that interpretation." She also clarified that the statue was not a depiction of Pallas Athena or Minerva, but simply a personification of the university.When Alma Mater was originally installed it was gilded, although the original gilding wore away with time. In the late 1920s, French suggested re-gilding the statue, though this was not done; the few remaining flakes of gold were removed in 1950 in order to catalyze the statue's patina. In 1962, the university made the decision to apply a new bronze veneer. However, after protests, including by President Grayson L. Kirk, the new finish was removed and the patina restored. In 2002, the statue was restored again, changing her more uniform green patina hue to the green and brown mix that is seen today.The design of Alma Mater inspired a 1919 statue of the same name at the University of Havana in Cuba by Mario Korbel, who had lived in New York City from 1913 to 1917. Additionally, the Alma Mater statue at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign may have been inspired by Columbia's Alma Mater, according to its sculptor, Lorado Taft.
Pallas Athena Alma Mater University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Mario Korbel Psi Upsilon alma mater Dwight C. Miner Grayson L. Kirk Margaret French Cresson New York City Athena patina Lorado Taft Cuba Minerva The New York Times left University of Havana the seal of the university laurel wreath