The system of meaning that organizes the exterior and to some extent interior art of Central Library was conceived by University of Nebraska philosophy professor Hartley Burr Alexander who first collaborated with library architect Bertram Goodhue on the Nebraska state capitol building. The Flower Street facade exemplifies the sophistication of Professor Alexander’s layered program of linked symbols. At the facade’s upper edge appears the last line of a passage in Latin from Lucretius Book 11:79: ET QUASI CURSORES VITAI LAMPADA TRADUNT which freely translated says, “Like runners they bear on the lamp of life.” Directly below a relief of horsemen passing a torch embodies the quote. The remainder of the facade carries out the theme of illumination. Two monumental sculptural figures, Phosphor and Hesper, personify the morning and evening stars. Beneath each figure’s feet, emblematic representations of sunrise (associated with Phosphor) and sunset (Hesper) suggest the cardinal points East and West. This abbreviated symbology in turn expands to suggest a whole history of knowledge engraved on scrolls listing great writers and thinkers divided between East (Asia and the Middle East) and West (classical cultures and Europe). Here in Alexander’s own words, first the left and then righthand scroll listed “founders of the five great Oriental religions--Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Confucious, Mohammed--and second, of the sages of the Eastern nations, Lao Tse for China, Hillel for the Jews, Avicenna for the Persian and Algazali for the Arabian Mohammedans, and Badarayana for the Indian metaphysicians.” Exterior sculptures of Phosphor and Hesper, designed by sculptor Lee Lawrie are show prior to their installation on the west facade of Central Library.
Central Library (Los Angeles, Calif.) Los Angeles Public Library Libraries--California--Los Angeles Statues--California--Los Angeles Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Lawrie, Lee,1877-1963 Downtown Los Angeles (Los Angeles, Calif.)
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