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LSU Health New OrleansAlferez Frieze – Library Commons’ Sculpture
Yesterday another milestone was reached in the completion of the Library Commons. “The Conquest of Yellow Fever” frieze by Enrique Alferez was mounted in a specially prepared wall. (Specially prepared because the frieze weighs about 2 tons.)
Conquest of Yellow Fever frieze by Enrique Alferez
The frieze originally hung on the 2nd floor of the original School of Medicine building and was completed sometime before 1933. The frieze was removed from the wall at 1542 Tulane Avenue in 1987 when a proposed drop ceiling would have covered it; the sculpture’s champion was former LSUHSC Libraries Director Judith Caruthers. Sometime before it’s removal it was accidentally painted institutional green (prior to 1961) covering the original aluminum coating (over plaster). It was stored in the Library (both at 1542 and at the then new Resource Center Library, now John P. Isché Library). It was sent to a conservator for restoration in 1999.
Alferez frieze pre-restoration
The conservator will complete the restoration now that the piece is in place. The frieze will be beautiful addition to the Library Commons.
“The symbolic panels now adorning the LSU medical center building portray in rugged beauty ‘The Evolution of Life,’ ‘The Conquest of Yellow Fever,’ ‘The Surgeon’ and other medical subjects of ancient and modern times.”
From a 1934 Times-Picayune newspaper clipping describing an exhibition of Alferez’s work in New Orleans.