Photo: © Brian Deegan (cc-by-sa/2.0)
Sculptor: Giovanni Ciniselli (1832–1883)
Materials: Statue: marble; plinth with marble reliefs
Dimensions: Statue: h.1.02m; plinth: h. 89cm
Signed: on plinth: G. Ciniselli in Roma
Inscription: One relief on plinth inscribed: EDUCATE ILLOS IN DISCIPLINA; other relief on plinth inscribed: DOCTRINA STULTORUM FATUITAS
The Reading Lady
The statue was purchased in Italy by Daniel Adamson, an engineer, who was the driving force behind the building of the Manchester Ship Canal and became first chairman of that company. It was given to the library in 1939 by his family. The theme of a girl reading was a subject which appealed to Victorian sculptors. During this period, literacy was becoming widely recognised as important, but girls’ education was limited and even those from wealthy familes had less formal education than boys. The latin inscriptions on the two marble reliefs on statue’s plinth reinforce the value the Victorians put on education; one reading ‘Bring them up with learning’ and the other ‘ Stupidity teaches foolishness’.
Source: Terry Wyke with Harry Cocks, Public Sculpture of Greater Manchester, Liverpool, 2004, p. 134.
Location: Central Library, Manchester