"The Search for Light" octagonal, from the mural series "The Building of the House of Wisdom," Charlton Yarnall House
Date
1910–11Medium
Oil on canvasCredit Line
Gift of the Southeast Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Red Cross, 1963Dimensions
29 x 29 1/8 inDescription & Inscriptions
Arching over the lunette Man and Science were three octagonal panels celebrating the technological innovations that were shaping the new century, Communion throughout Space, The Search for Light, and Aviation.
In The Search for Light, a scientist leans into his book, like the Prophet Daniel in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling. The glowing cathode tube on the table suggests that he may be English scientist Michael Faraday trying to understand the invisible source of light.
In The Search for Light, a scientist leans into his book, like the Prophet Daniel in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling. The glowing cathode tube on the table suggests that he may be English scientist Michael Faraday trying to understand the invisible source of light.
