Image: Dr. Bernd Gross, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en>, via Wikimedia Commons
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) is best known as one of Germany’s most influential poets, novelists, and thinkers. But in 1777, he also ventured into artistry. With the support of his former teacher, Adam Friedrich Oeser, Goethe designed and commissioned the above sculpture from a local stonemasonry, placing it in his garden in Weimar.
At first glance, it was a simple structure… a solid cube at the base with a globe resting on top. But its symbolism ran much deeper.
