Arts, Sciences and Literature originally graced the roofline of an earlier Indianapolis Public Library facility, which was built in 1893 on the southwest corner of Ohio and Meridian Sts.  The building also housed the central administrative offices of Indianapolis Public Schools.  The current Central Library was built in 1917; however, the sculpture remained in place until 1967, when Indianapolis Public Schools moved to a new administration building.  Although the building was soon demolished and a hotel constructed in its place, the sculpture was rescued and relocated to the grounds of Crown Hill Cemetery. In 1981 the artwork, damaged from the elements and with missing parts, was brought back to the grounds of the Central Library.  It remained there until 2002, when it was removed for a complete restoration before being placed over the north doors of the library’s renovated and expanded facility in June-July, 2007.

The sculpture is a heroic-scale bronze group of three figures. On the proper right is a seated female figure representing Literature. On her lap she holds a book or tablet, and at her feet is a bust of the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. She faces away from the grouping. Her proper right arm is extended. In the center is a standing male figure, representing Enlightenment, holding aloft a torch in his proper right hand. The torch is topped with a six-pointed star. In his proper left hand he holds a palm leaf, representing Achievement.  Beside him is an owl and a globe, attributes of science. On the proper left is a seated female figure, representing the Arts. With her proper left hand she holds a drawing board braced against her proper left knee. Her proper right hand is poised near her shoulder and she is gazing at the board. At her side is a bust of the Renaissance artist Michelangelo. A laurel wreath lies in the foreground between the center and proper left figures. An eagle perches with outspread wings behind the figures.

Richard Bock (1865-1949) was a Chicago-based artist of the late 19th and early 20th century, best known for creating sculptures and architectural ornaments in association with architect Frank Lloyd Wright.  Bock was born in Germany but moved to Chicago as a youth.  He studied art at the Berlin Academy and at the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and established his studio in Chicago in 1891.  Bock received the commission for Arts, Sciences and Letters on the basis of his entry into a competition for the sculpture, which he won.  For more information about Bock and his work, visit the website of the Richard W. Bock Sculpture Museum in Greenville, Illinois:  https://www.greenville.edu/about/visit/bock_museum.html