2. What is the significance of Liberty's nakedness?
3. Why is Wisdom armoured and seemingly prepared for war?
4. How might we apply our understanding of the statue to current events or the current state of our nation?
*** STRING IS CLOSED ***
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Wisdom Supporting Liberty
By now it is possible, perhaps even likely, that most of your classmates have discovered the identity of the statue featured in "Why Words Matter." Jules Dalou's sculpture, Wisdom Supporting Liberty gives us a classical representation of the Greek goddess Athena (the goddess of both wisdom and war) supporting the naked representation of Lady Liberty. Some questions are in order.
1. How does the title impact your understanding of the statue?
2. What is the significance of Liberty's nakedness?
3. Why is Wisdom armoured and seemingly prepared for war?
4. How might we apply our understanding of the statue to current events or the current state of our nation?
2. What is the significance of Liberty's nakedness?
3. Why is Wisdom armoured and seemingly prepared for war?
4. How might we apply our understanding of the statue to current events or the current state of our nation?
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31 comments:
When I saw the statue in person, I had a different feeling about it. I had more understanding of the name and title of it. It brought to light some of the other comments that the classmates made. Liberty is the naked woman because when you're naked, you have no restraints, you're free from everything. Wisdom is dressed as a warrior because it is somewhat like the greek goddess Athena, goddess of war and knowledge I believe. In order to have wisdom, you must be strong. With wisdom comes the power to fight and stand strong for what you believe in. In this case, it is liberty. That is, in my opinion, why Wisdom is holding up and "supporting" Liberty.
Getting the chance to see this statue was fantastic. It is a beautiful piece of work, and learning the title helps you to better understand its reasoning. The artist wanted you to look at the two woman and analyze them, why is one naked and the other dressed in armour? Liberty being the naked one is tired and fallen in need of help. She is free to everything, nothing is holding her back. Wisdom would be the woman holding her, dressed in armour. Having the chance to see the statue up close, if you look closely, there is a symbol on her chest. It looks to be that of a goddess. Which explains why she is the one to be holding or supporting Liberty. This all ties together the reasoning of the title, explaining who the two women are.
I was extremely excited that the french class was able to actually see the real statue. Honestly, I thought that the statue was going to be bigger than it actually was, but it was still beautiful. When we learned the title of the statue, it made so much sense. I realized that when I looked at the picture Mr. Daley posted, I wasn't looking close enough. I believe the lady liberty is naked because when you're naked, you're free. There is nothing holding you back, or keeping you in. Wisdom is armoured because she is the goddess Athena. Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom and war,this would explain her armour. One way to apply the meaning of this statue to our current nation is that our nation is a "free country", therefore, we have to use the wisdom of learning from the past to secure our liberties.
To all french students, did the statue really have that big of an effect on you? It sounds pretty amazing the way you guys described it.
The title of the piece makes the statue very clear. Before knowing the title I never would have associated the two together. I can understand that wisdom is supporting liberty know because one women is supporting another.
I believe that liberty is naked because she is exposed. Liberty and freedom are always exposed to the world and can be attacked. Liberty being naked makes her very vulnerable.
Wisdom is armoured and ready for war because sometimes poeple have to stnd up for what they know. Especially because she is a women she must be ready to defend herself. Athena is the goddess of war, that could provide another reason for her armour.
This relates to today's society because our liberty is always at risk or vulnerable. It could be taken at any moment. We have the intelligence and wisdom needed to stop that and protect our liberty but we need to be ready to fight if that were to happen.
Abby,
You use a word that is absolutely key. Liberty's nakedness is - I think - indeed suggestive of a certain vulnerability. To what is she vulnerable?
Mr. D-
Upon learing the title of the statue I understood why Wisdon was dressed for battle; to protect Freedom, which made the statue make all that much more sense because violence has had to be employed to protect such basic rights though out history.
Freedom is naked to show a lack of restraints; she isn't bound by anything, figurativly or literally.
As in Lybia, and other countries right now, people are rebelling against dictators and corrupt governments to protect or aquire freedom,ever country should know that they must do this if their freedom is challanged.
Abby,
The statue was small, but it was really cool to see it in person. Also, it was a lot easier to pick out the little details that gave hints to the title. For example,I couldn't tell that the person in the armor was a woman in the picture on the blog, but that might have just been me. Also, there is a face on the woman's armor that indicates that the woman is a goddess and the naked woman has ears, which symbolizes a group in history that believed in freedom(Liberty). I thought the statue was pretty amazing because it opened my eyes to a lot of things I didn't realize before.
1. The fact that the woman on the left is wearing a helmet and armour on her chest makes sense now that I know that she is Dalou’s representation of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war. The fact that she is wearing a robe, which is a symbol of knowledge during that time period, also makes sense. The wise are the ones who usually support and protect the unwise. So, it is very appropriate that Athena is supporting the other figure.
2. I believe that the fact that Liberty is naked has much to do with Jules Dalou’s own opinion about liberty. Maybe he believed that to obtain liberty one must be willing to sacrifice everything one has, even the clothes on one’s back. To obtain liberty one must be willing to give up one’s social position, to confront others, give up their pride and ask for help when needed and even die for one’s beliefs. Which would explain the fact that Liberty is naked and seemingly passed out or lacking in so much energy she is unable to stand.
3. To have wisdom, one must have experienced many things in life. And through such experiences one must have learned that sometimes it is necessary to use force to get what one wants. Since Wisdom is supporting Liberty I imagine that Wisdom must be willing to aid Liberty in her quest FOR liberty. Thusly, Wisdom is prepared to fight which would explain the armour.
4. The United States was formed because its people desired liberty from the British. It became one of the world’s top countries; however, it is now facing a great dilemma financially. Liberty is being supported by Wisdom in Dalou’s sculpture. She couldn’t do what she wanted or needed to do by herself. Hence, maybe the U.S. needs to look for help from the wise in order to rise out of its financial morass.
The title, "Wisdom Supporting Liberty" helps to better understand the statue because wisdom must support liberty because people must be intelligent enough to understand the importance of freedom. Liberty is naked because liberty has nothing holding it back and it is constantly exposed and at risk. Liberty is vulnerable because freedom is always at risk of being taken away, so it needs to be guarded by wisdom. Wisdom is dressed in armour and ready for war because wisdom is prepared to protect freedom and fight for liberty. Our nation today is free because we have fought for our freedom and we know how important liberty is in life.
What do you folks think of the fact that the Greeks thought of Athena as both the goddess of wisdom and of war? Is it a paradox to have these particular ideas embodied in a single figure?
I actually knew the name of the statue when I posted on the original post. I tried not to let it obfuscate my initial observation but knowing the name of the statue adds a lot of depth to its true symbolic meaning. The title gives identity to the women and defines it much more clearly. Liberty's nakedness shows the frailty of liberties and easily they can be stripped and cast down. Wisdom is armored because of liberty's frailty. Wisdom and the ability to fight for causes based on knowledge is what protects the liberties of the weak. Also she's dressed that way because she is the goddess of wisdom and war so its sort of self-explanatory. We can attribute the statues meaning to many current events. The revolution in Libya is based on their desires for liberties which are promised in a democratic government. New security measures infringing on personal liberties rely on the wisdom of officials to judge whether the added protection is greater than encroachment on personal liberties.
Mr. Daley
Does BKill stand for buzzkill?
Maybe ;) ... use your imagination Brandon.
Knowing the name of the statue and the identities of the figures in the statue causes everything to make sense to me. I believe that Lady Liberty's nakedness signifies our country's venerability. Athena is in armor for several reasons. She is the goddess of war, so she should, naturally, be wearing armor to be in constant preparation for war. The second reason is that she is helping the vulnerable Lady Liberty, likely dragged out of war. Currently, our nation is in 3 wars and just coming out of an economic depression. This statue is an accurate insight into the future of our country.
PS-seeing this statue in person was fantastic. When I first saw the picture of the statue on the blog, I assumed it was very large, when in reality, it is only a couple feet tall. Just thought it was interesting, that's all.
Christina,
I find it interesting that you connect nudity with freedom. Do you have a more in depth explanation for why you make that connection?
Angie,
I, too, thought that the statue was bigger than it actually is. Our tour guide pointed out specific details that we could see when we were closer to statue. Do you remember that any of them were?
The title gives me a different outlook on the whole meaning. To me it now represents a war for liberty that is needed to be fought wisely. Liberties nakedness depicts a lack of freedom that is weak and open to attacks. To fight the war of freedom, wisdom is needed which is why wisdom is armored, ready for war. Knowledge is a key factor in accomplishing this “war.” The meaning of the statue reflects on many current events in our nation. Most people would think of the three wars we are fighting. For me the recession we are in comes to mind. It can be seen as a war with our economy. Economically are nation is in a deficit, and we are tied down to our debts. In order to free ourselves from these debts we need wisdom. Wisdom is being wise and the knowledge of the truth. In order to pry ourselves from this recession we need to make smart decisions on the knowledge we have.
Christina, after I read your comment I stopped and did not proceed onto reading the other comments people wrote. I find it very interesting how you translate Liberties nakedness to her having no restraints. I like how it is more of a positive view and not one that was depicted to be weak or defenseless. I think seeing the statue in person may give one a different outlook as to yours.
The title really brings understanding a complete of what the artist depicted.
I think that nakedness has to do with freedom and vulnerability because of that-like how we depend on our soldiers to protect our freedom, our rights.
Wisdom is armored and prepared for war because wisdom knows what's to come and is ready to fight for liberty.
We, as a nation, rely on our armed forces to protect us from all sorts of dangers: from terrorists or from natural disasters. They are there to do what we can't or choose not to.
Sorry *a complete understanding
I'm feeling a little dyslexic tonight.
I agree with Abby when she writes, "I believe that liberty is naked because she is exposed. Liberty and freedom are always exposed to the world and can be attacked. Liberty being naked makes her very vulnerable." Liberty is vulnerable because she is exposed to the attacks of others and it is up to Wisdom to shield her and protect her from those attacks.
I think knowing the title of the statue makes me understand it a little bit less. Both qualities are strong, so why is one holding and supporting the other? The significance of the lady being naked shows vulnarability and weakness. Wisdom is armored and seemingly prepared for war because wisdon is always fighting ignorance and weakness. And this applies very much to our nation today. We need to gather our wisdom to fight for the liberty and what our country has worked for.
Collin, I agree about our country being voulnerable. The statue shows the difference between that and strength and how one must overcome the other.
Liberty is completely free, which is represented by her nakedness. Thats not to say that liberty is weak because she is vulnerable. Wisdom, represented by the goddess Athena, holds Liberty up. Athena is dressed in battle armor. She symbolizes that wisdom protects and fights to defend liberty.
The statue was a lot smaller then I had expected, but seeing it in person made the title make sense.
Mr D -
Liberty is vulnerable to so many different things. A person's liberties and rights are alwasy at stake. It the instant of a moment somebodies liberties could be taken from them. Also, Libety representing a nation or a larger scale idea is also constantly vulnerable, by other nations, rebels of the same nation, and even the government.
Learning the name of this statue made me realize what it really stood for. I had no idea what it was actually called just by looking at it. The title is great and fits the statue perfectly. I now understand that the naked figure is liberty and that is represented by her nakedness. Being naked makes her free from oppression and it also sets her aside from everyone else. She is her own person, not wearing clothes to show that she is different. Wisdom is armored because with wisdom comes many other things. Responsibility is one of these things that comes with wisdom, and one must fight to protect and keep wisdom as it is very powerful. I think this shows that our country needs to use our wisdom to better ourselves.... something that we dont always do
Collin, in my opinion when someone is naked they have no restraints; nothing at all is holding you back. I compare laws and rules to clothes. Without them, you are free to do what you want . Sometimes when you have freedom, you are weak and vulnerable because you don't really know what to do with yourself and liberty you have.
Like Mariana, I agree completely with Abby when she said that, "Liberty and freedom are always exposed to the world and can be attacked. Liberty being naked makes her very vulnerable." That is, unfortunately, a downside to liberty; someone or something is always trying to take it. Communism, socialism, dictator, and corruption threaten it all of the time, look at South Korea. Excellent interpretation of the significance of Liberty's nakedness.
Am I the only one who now wants to wants to know what bkill means, we should start a blog post about this...
Also is it just me or is it odd that Mr. D used an emoticon?
Now that I know the title of the statue I believe that it fits it very well. I feel like the liberty woman is naked because she has no where to go. In my mind it's kind of like a homeless person who needs help, and in this case liberty is turning to wisdom for help. Which wisdom is dressed in armor to fight for what she believes in. Have wisdom doesn;t always mean you'll win the battle. You have to use your wisdom to fight for what you believe in to win the war. The reason she is holding liberty to me is because liberty has no where else to go. This statue to me is like a symbol to people saying that we must use our wisdom to fight for out liberty and freedom.
Abby I agree with what you said to Mr.D on the vulnerability of a nations Liberty. Every day a nation that has liberty is being tested more then those nations that don't have liberty. Using the U.S. as an example we have freedoms that people in China don't have yet our country is doing worse then theirs. Our libertys and freedoms are being tested everyday because there could be people who see this and think why don't we change.
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