Yale Law School Ornamentation
One of the gems of Yale's architectural heritage is the sense of humour imparted by James Gamble Rogers, the architect (and Yale graduate) who designed many of Yale's neo-Gothic treasures in the inter-war period. Throughout the Yale campus, one may find hilarious little sculptural treasures ornamenting the otherwise serious and foreboding Gothic buildings. The contrast between the heaviness of the revered Gothic style and Rogers' quirky embellishments makes a walk through the campus a delight, as startling little revelations are found in the many nooks and crannies.
The Yale Law School, in particular, boasts a number of sculptic oddities, like the series of faces above: the killer, the thief, the cop, and the judge. [click pictures for larger images]
Above, the cop arrests, the judge sentences, the convict breaks stones, and the chains hold the system together.
These are friezes above the two entrances to the Yale Law School. One door is for the professors and the other
is for students. Their respective perceptions of the educational process is sculpted in hilarious relief. Over the professors'
door is an image of bored, sleeping students who are being taught by an insightful and energetic professor.
But over the students' door, engaged and enthusiastic students are confronted by an indifferent professor and a teaching
assistant who is sitting behind the professor looking at pornography!
You never know where you might see some little detail in the stone, some image of a cop or a judge.
All photos by Henry Trotter
