There Is No Easy Way from the Earth to the Stars

Gaetano Cecere, There Is No Easy Way from the Earth to the Stars, 1933, bronze, 2 ⁷⁄₈ in. (7.3 cm) diam., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the heirs of Albert Laessle: Mrs. Albertine de Bempt Laessle, Mr. Albert M. Laessle and Mr. Paul Laessle, 1972.167.21

Artwork Details

Title: There Is No Easy Way from the Earth to the Stars
Artist: Gaetano Cecere
Commissioner: Society of Medallic Arts
Founder: Medallic Art Company
Date: 1933
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: 2 ⁷⁄₈ in. (7.3 cm) diam.
Credit Line: Gift of the heirs of Albert Laessle: Mrs. Albertine de Bempt Laessle, Mr. Albert M. Laessle and Mr. Paul Laessle
Mediums: bronze
Mediums Description: bronze
Classifications: Sculpture
Medal
Subjects: Landscape — celestial — star
Animal — horse
Figure group — nude
Object Number: 1972.167.21
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1972.167.21

Artwork Description

The reverse of Gaetano Cecere’s creation for the Society of Medalists adapts a quotation from Seneca, the Roman playwright of the first century AD. The obverse shows three nude figures and the mythological horse Pegasus, evoking the efforts of mortals throughout the ages to transcend their limitations. This imagery was especially popular in the 1930s, when Americans struggled to overcome the devastation of the Great Depression and look to a brighter future.