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Pic of the Week: A Great Seal

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image shows a stylized great sell in brass surrounded by green marble on a terrazzo floor
Image courtesy of Ellen Terrell.

Today’s Pic of the Week features a version of the Great Seal of the United States as a floor medallion in the entrance lobby of the Adams Building.  It has been slightly modified, but has the requisite 13 stars, olive branches with 13 leaves and 13 olives, and a bald eagle.

Comments (3)

  1. Very unique…adds to back drop of history for the USA.

    But, one question what was the actual cost?
    Was the need justified…?? Did it provide
    basic elements for food, clothing & shelter for “We the people”?

  2. “…what was the actual cost? Was the need justified…?? Did it provide basic elements for food, clothing & shelter for ‘We the people’?”
    Questions deserving answers.
    1. Actual cost: probably available somewhere; no doubt pretty expensive unless donated by creator.
    2. Justification
    3. Did it provide….?
    (2a): Works of art surely justify themselves (or not);
    (3a): maybe gave employment to a few people in smelting the brass etc.

    What’s the point of these questions? If you seriously demand answers to them for every work of art, you’re on the verge of re-enacting Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution, which was virtually a definition of “barbarism.” As a nation we are better than that.

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