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Title
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Five Symbolic Figures
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Description
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The Statues representing Art, Literature, Philosophy, Science, and Law stood over seven feet tall. They were made of dark cement, a newer medium, and seemed better suited for their use outdoors than other sculptures because Lentelli did not include great detail on the figures. The figures are a mix of male and female reliefs with different objects held in the statues hands and by thier feet. One statue has a woman with a young boy at her feet, while another looks to have a bird sitting at the feet of a man. The figures are dressed in classical robes and each statue sat on granite bases. The statues sat above the San Francisco Main Library's main entrance until the building was repurposed in 1996 and they were removed.
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Coordinates
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200 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA 94102
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Location
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Old Main Library, San Francisco, California
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Note
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Lentelli spent the years 1914-1918 in San Francisco, where he worked on several projects, including this one. Despite this, much of the work he did in the city is now gone, being removed or destroyed though the years. These statues were removed in 1996 when the building was repurposed as the Asian Art Mueseum. These five statues switched hands multiple times in 2004 alone, where they were sold as a set for over $10,000.
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Abstract
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Five Symbolic Figures was a set of five statues created by Leo Lentelli for San Francisco's Main Library in 1918. The concrete statues, representing Art, Literature, Philosophy, Science, and Law, were removed in 1996 when the building was repurposed. The classical Roman reliefs have since changed private hands several times.
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Creator
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Leo Lentelli|197
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Date
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1918
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Medium
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Concrete
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Date Modified
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1996
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Subject
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Art|Literature|Philosophy|Science|Law
