The twelve golden owls of Pallas Athena (De twaalf gouden uilen van Pallas Athena)

About this artwork.

The twelve golden owls in the tympanum of the Harmony Building are a tribute to the Greek goddess Pallas Athena. Here it symbolises the Faculty of Arts. To Pallas Athena were attributed the qualities of reason, courage, beauty and fidelity. She was venerated as the goddess of wisdom, of war and peace and of the fine arts. To emphasise her wisdom, the goddess is often depicted with an owl. 

The owls are cast in polyurethane and then treated with gold leaf. They are identical in terms of their bodies, but their eyes are each a different colour. In doing so, Van Dijk wanted to symbolise individual wisdom. With the six sitting owls on the left and the six sitting owls on the right, the artist also points to the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Law respectively, both of which are housed in the Harmoniegebouw. 

Wia van Dijk goes on to say about this work: “Harmony would not exist without disharmony. The harmonious arrangement is slightly disturbed by an alternation of a left-sitting and a right-sitting owl. The disturbance holds harmony within itself because they are the only owls having the same green coloured eyes. 

This artwork by Wia van Dijk is part of the art project Kennisjaren 1994-2014 (Years of Knowledge 1994–2014) at the University of Groningen. This project was started in 1994 on the occasion of the 380th anniversary of the university and ended in 2014 on the occasion of its 400th anniversary.

Facts & Figures.

• Design
  Wia van Dijk

• District
  Centrum

• Year of creation
  2006

• Art type
  Art in / on a building, Wall sculpture

• Dimensions
  h 0,48 x b 0,21 x d 0,21 per uil