A Priestess of Culture – Palace of Fine Arts, Marina District, San Francisco, California

From the official guidebook of the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition: "High on the decorative columns that mark the great arches within the beautiful Rotunda of Fine Arts, stand, repeated, the peaceful, dignified and serene ‘Priestess of Culture,’ by Herbert Adams. These are angelic figures, modeled with the control and calm that fittingly express the mission of culture upon the earth. Indeed the work of Mr. Adams may be said generally to be characterized by that probity and intellectual beauty ministering to the purposes of culture. These figures are harmonious ornaments to the richly decorated ceiling which they touch and to which they give a certain tranquillity. The slope of their wings connects gracefully with that of the arches; this, with the quiet beauty of the drapery and its accord with the line of the cornucopia, creates a restful architectural effect."