Explore the Interpretation of this artwork.
The excised Biblical quote possibly suggests good and evil cannot be known, or told apart. With the ape's study, the library of books and the caliper instruments, the suggestion is the statue is warning against the application of rationalism in the absence of morality. Furthermore, when a human is depicted holding a skull, it is usually a comment on mortality (see memento mori) and the inevitability of death; famously, Hamlet bereaves Yorick in one instance, but is soon repulsed by this macabre souvenir as it brings him face-to-face with all life's grim destiny. But, for Hugo Rheinhold's ape, it is something quite different. The ape is engaged in assessment and measurement (confirmed by the calipers). That we should even consider this level of intelligence in another species is a bold examination of ourselves through eyes that bear witness to the disproportionate leverage historically awarded humankind. Hugo Rheinhold's original inscription "eritis sicut deus" (sometimes wrongly "eritus …."), either suggests Darwinian understanding may lead to Frankenstinian abuse of life's essence, or a more inclusive innocence that recognises a place for other advanced life‑forms on our intellectual podium, if only we can just accommodate those guests. The page on which the Book of Genensis quote eritis sicut deus (“You will be like God”) is written is torn with the second part Scientes bonum et malum ("knowing good from evil") lost. Hugo was sympathetic to Darwinian ideas but familiar with Goethe's Faust, where the same quote appears with a warning on the misuse of man's power of reason, the calipers being symbolic of the scientific method.
Hamlet Darwin Frankenstinian Yorick memento mori Hugo Rheinhold