The whole frieze suggests the beginning of progress.
In the spiral that winds about the column certain interpreters have
found a symbol of the upward march of human achievement; but as this
spiral decoration is found on the Column of Trajan and the Column of
Marcus Aurelius, the Roman prototypes of the Column of Progress, there
probably is no special significance in its use here.
Supporting the crowning group is a drum with crouching figures of
toilers in relief, entitled "The Burden Bearers."
The Adventurous Bowman is the title of the surmounting statue. The
heroic Bowman, facing the skies and the seas, and launching his arrow
into the unknown, is the symbol of the impulse that leads men to dare
all to achieve victory. At the left of the central figure is a man of
smaller stature, leaning against the Bowman to give him support. On the
other side a woman crouches, looking up as the arrow speeds on its way.
The ring-like object in the woman's hand, which is so hard to identify
when one views the group from the ground, is a wreath.
There is about the Bowman a remarkable sense of movement, of energy, of
pressing forward, no matter what the view point of the spectator. The
monument should be seen from as far north as possible, near the corner
of the California building, perhaps. From here, from the Esplanade as
one approaches from either east or west, and from the Court of the
Universe at the rear, the group has the same inspirational quality, the
same sense of joyous effort, of courageous striving toward achievement.
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