Retable, Sterling Memorial Library

The retable behind the circulation desk at Sterling Memorial Library was completed by Eugene F. Savage, B.F.A. Yale 1924, William Leffingwell Professor of Painting in the Yale School of Fine Arts, in 1932. At the time the artist described the composition as, "symbolizing the inspiration that directs the University's spiritual and intellectual efforts." He continued,

Under the spreading branches of the tree of knowledge is a golden portal within which stands Alma Mater, laurel crowned, clothed in white, and wearing a blue mantel. She holds in one hand the sphere of learning and in the other an open book illuminated with the ancient characters which 'Lux et Veritas' translation in the seal of the University. On the left of the composition, Light bearing a torch. and Truth holding a mirror have led their followers to make grateful acknoledgement to Alma Mater. Science and Labor present to her the fruits of the earth; Music, Divinity and Literature attend on the right, while the Fine Arts places a figure of Winged Victory at her feet (The Yale University Library Gazette, Vol. VII, Jan. 1933, No.3, pp.75-76, illus. frontispiece.).

Truth is depicted in the manner, nude and carrying a mirror, first illustrated by Ripa. Music is identified by a harp, Divinity by the tablets and cross-covered gown, and Literature by a quill and scroll. Alma Mater is garbed in a white gown and blue mantel, the official university colors. Additional explication of the details of the mural, such as the flowers and stream in the foreground, for instance, might be possible with further study of the artist's work and other mural paintings of the early twentieth century.