Nation as Sovereign Power
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
- The U.S. Department of the Treasury commissioned artist John Massey Rhind to create the two groups of allegorical figures that flank the entrance of the Federal Building and Courthouse in Providence, Rhode Island.
The full title of the group on the left is Providence as Independent Thought, flanked by Industry and Education. The group's central figure is Providence, who is crowned with laurel and holds open a small book in her left hand. She is flanked by a male figure with a hammer, wheel, pulley block, and blacksmith's tongs who represents Industry, and a female figure with an oil lamp and a large open book who represents Education.
The group on the right is Nation as Sovereign Power, flanked by Justice, and Law and Order. This group's central figure represents the United States, holding an orb topped by a small eagle. She is flanked by a female figure holding scales and a sword who represents Justice, and a male figure holding Roman fasces (a bundle of rods and an axe) and a book who represents Law and Order.
These limestone sculptures were produced at Ross Marble Quarry near Knoxville, Tennessee, by a team of Italian sculptors who worked from plaster casts of the original clay figures sculpted by Rhind.
