the Supreme Court's crumbling "Authority"

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For some, the chunk of marble that fell from the facade of the Supreme Court yesterday was a frightening safety hazard. But this is Washington, after all, where people search for hidden meaning in anything that happens at places such as the nation's highest court. And so, some couldn't help but note that the tumbling piece chipped at a carved marble figure that represents "Authority."

Although "Authority" was damaged, there will be no need to restore "Order," its neighboring figure. Or "Liberty Enthroned," which also survived the accident. At the foot of the Supreme Court steps, where engineers were photographing the remains of the Vermont marble pieces and carefully loading them into crates, one onlooker nudged a friend: "Notice how it happened on the right side. Not the left. The right."

The events unfolded at 9:30 a.m., about a half-hour before the court was to convene. The piece of marble -- about the size of a medicine ball -- fell from the building's west pediment, and much of it smashed into smithereens near the steps below. No one was injured. The pediment includes 30 blocks of dentil molding that arc over nine muscular and serious sculptures that represent "Order," "Liberty Enthroned" and "Authority" along with past justices, a senator and other luminaries.

-- Petula Dvorak, Washington Post (11/29/2005)

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