Fifty Nevada Goldback

Libertas, or Liberty, the capstone Virtue design of each U.S. based Goldback series, makes her second appearance here under a starry Nevada night sky. Here, in the peaks of the Sierra Nevadas, she is depicted as biblical Eve, mother of the human race, patterned somewhat after a statue of Aphrodite from Ceasar’s Palace, Las Vegas. She is championed here by the artist as a symbol of the biblical story about a free woman who exercised her agency and power of choice to bring about the human race. In her left hand she holds high a pomegranate fruit, symbolizing all of humankind, and in her right hand she is holding a vertical rod, a symbol of royalty that also nods to the vertical mining technique that helped Nevada to become an outstanding precious metals producer.

She is featured standing on a stone pedestal which bears a seashell, often found in connection to depictions of Aphrodite, and at her feet is a basket of pomegranates. Next to her is a biblical depiction of a rock altar with a fire burning on it, which points toward a common biblical practice done to demonstrate thanks to the Divine for the blessings of freedom. To Liberty’s right is a small pillar, which balances a world globe, with which Liberty champions her cause to the world. Nevada’s Desert Bighorn Sheep can be found both behind and before as symbols of both steadfastness and mobility in their freedom in the highest places of Nevada’s mountains. Also present is the Bristlecone Pine, one of the longest living trees on Earth, symbolizing the eternal nature of Liberty as a crowning Virtue.