'Victory of Science Over Ignorance'(1885)
Marble, 80 1/2 x 25 1/2 x 32 inches
Installed in 1885 as a gift from Henry Shaw.
Artist:
Carlo Nicoli
Italian, 19th Century
Location:
Between the Jenkins Daylily Garden and the Mausoleum Garden
This copy of a piece by Consani in the Pitti Palace, Florence, has the partially draped seated figure writing on a shield, with the pedestal inscription: "The Victory of Science over ignorance / Ignorance is the curse of God / Knowledge is the wing wherewith / We fly to heaven." Roman Victory figures were worshipped in the city and in army camps, and in Greek mythology their personification became merged with Nike, goddess of victory in war and of success in peaceable enterprises.
