Allegorical sculpture
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Allegorical sculpture refers to sculptures that symbolize and personify abstract ideas. The most commonly seen examples are statues of "Justice", traditionally holding scales and wearing a blindfold to represent her impartiality. This approach of using human form and its posture, gesture and clothing to wordlessly convey social values developed under the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, is usually associated with Victorian art, and is most commonly found in works from around 1900. Another well known example is the Statue of Liberty.
In Pan-American Exposition of 1901 in Buffalo, New York, for instance, had an extensive scheme of allegorical sculpture programmed by Karl Bitter. The allegorical group on top of Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan, carved by the French sculptor Jules Felix Couton in 1912, represents the Roman gods Hercules (strength), Mercury (speed), and Minerva (wisdom), and collectively represents "Transportation."
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