Capitol Sconce

Shot this back in April when I was starting to fall in love with the 70-200mm. It’s such a beast of a lens; serious, heavy and conspicuous. It screams, “I’m taking serious photos here, people.”

This is both good and bad. There are times when you want to get an image and the serious lens grants you a bit of leeway. Then there are times when you’d prefer to remain less visible and you can’t because the white monster lens is shouting about the photos and the art and the serious whatnot. However, the bokeh is stellar and its ability to get shots in a pinch has made this a go-to lens, despite the drawbacks.

I’ve got a detail shot of this sconce that I will share today as well. It’s a gorgeous thing. The hand-like talons wrangling the snakes is likely ripe with symbolism. I did some searching to try and find out if there was an overt symbology, but that is a rathole I didn’t want to go down today. At university, I took a few art history and humanities courses that dealt with Greek and Roman art and architecture, but I don’t recall if it’s an eagle controlling two opposite snakes implying justice or strength (Herakles/Hercules?) or it’s just a cool detail. I would imagine there is a meaning to extract and I’m certain it would involve any of the following: Freemasonry, Egypt, goddess worship, the Old Testament, Mayans, 9/11 and the Illuminati.

I just liked these sconces, so I’ll forego the rathole.

* * *

Affirmation: Seriously, let it go.

chernevik

American iconography has used an eagle with a snake in its talons to represent America conquering various evils. Symbolizing American with an eagle goes back to the Founding Generation and may reflect their identification of America with the Roman republic. I don’t know if the eagle holding a snake goes back to Rome, or if that image first first cropped up in American iconography.

Snakes aren’t necessarily evil in American symbolism. The Gadsden Flag (“don’t tread on me”) uses a rattlesnake to symbolizes the dangers of provoking Americans.
- http://blurbomat.com/ blurb
  
  The imagery of two snakes goes way back and features heavily in nearly every major culture’s iconography. I figured the talon was an eagle reference controlling good and evil. Or keeping them in check. I’m now going to spend the next several days researching.
americanrecluse

Man, that sconce is creepy. I love it!