Frame 1870 - 1900

This frame was made by Stanford White, an American architect of the Gilded Age. Its classical motifs, like the twisted columns, and egg-and-dart pattern are a language of form. The twisted, or Solomonic column, speaks of Baroque Rome, finding its genesis at the altar of St. Peter’s. These columns, in turn, consciously echo the Temple of Solomon and the Jewish diaspora, intertwining faith and power. As these motifs migrated northward, their original religious intensity waned, morphing into mere decoration. The egg-and-dart, with its alternating ovoid and spear shapes, can be traced back to ancient Greece. The egg symbolizes life and rebirth; the dart, death and mortality. Together, they reflect the cyclical nature of existence and our own subconscious struggle to reconcile these opposing forces. Consider how the symbols echo and transform—an eternal recurrence, each return a ghostly echo of a forgotten past.