Viewing page 26 of 26

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

In the darkness of 1933 when Europe seemed to be so troubled that every generous heart worried about human being and his destiny I wanted to express my absolute faith in the future. A sketch was born from those feelings which could be called "Prometheus Victor". Prometheus, the personification of progress, who [[strikethrough]] represents the [[/strikethrough]] brought knowledge and light to the human being,is victorious over the vulture who represents the chaos, the darkness, theanimality. For some reason I did not like my sketch and so I did not continue to work on it. But this sketch still exists.
When in 1930 the French Government asked me to make a big sculpture for one of the gates of the Palais de la Decouverte for the International Exhibition of 1937 in Paris, the sketch I had made in 1933 came immediately to my mind.  I thought this subject would be very appropriate since le Palais de la Decouverte was devoted to sience and progress. My idea was if Prometheus, representing light and knowledge, remains chained and the vulture devouring his liver, no further progress can exist. That's why I decided to free him first from his chains. And then I made hims struggle with his enemy, the vulture who represents the darkness. 
It is the eternal theme of all religions and it is w [[strikethrough]] h[[/strikethrough]] ith this in mind that I made my sculpture like a rite. At the end of the exhibition my work was destroyed. Anyway it was made [[strikethrough]] on [[/strikethrough]] only in plaster, big, 10 meters high and too quickly made to be ready for the exhibit.