Yale University Bicentennial 1901

Curator: Bela Lyon Pratt's bronze relief, "Yale University Bicentennial," created in 1901, is a fascinating piece we have here at the Met. Editor: Okay, my first thought? Regal. The figures seem suspended in time, like a fancy coin celebrating something super important. Very serious, very…bronze-y. Curator: Exactly! The relief employs neoclassicism to evoke a sense of historical significance, and the piece was in fact commissioned to commemorate Yale's bicentennial anniversary. Notice the allegorical figures driving a chariot. This connects the university to traditions of enlightenment and classical knowledge production. Editor: It's like history as spectacle, right? Sort of dramatic in its presentation. Who are the figures in the chariot? One holds a wreath it looks like. And I’m reading "Lux et Veritas" at the top – Light and Truth? Curator: Yes! The female figure carrying the wreath perhaps alludes to Yale bestowing academic honors, and the man… well, that he is driving represents the pursuit of "Lux et Veritas"—Yale's motto—through determined action. It is interesting how even on a sculptural piece from this period, you see that the female form is relegated to a relatively passive role. What do you think? Editor: The way their robes sort of meld into the chariot feels... almost restrictive? Like their individual potential is subsumed by the institution itself. I see that it’s classical but maybe that is one the classical world's major failures; so many things, and so many bodies are forced into really simple boxes. Curator: Absolutely, that tension between individual agency and institutional power is central to the piece, reflecting larger debates about the role of universities at the turn of the 20th century. Editor: Well, I'll be chewing on that idea for the rest of the day. Thanks for that super-illuminating little dive, now it’s a little more brilliant, despite being a coin-like relief that you will probably find lying under your sofa after two millennia. Curator: My pleasure, it’s been really stimulating discussing "Yale University Bicentennial." It brings interesting conversations.