The artwork titled “Friendship Love and Truth” was created by the renowned American printmaking firm Currier and Ives in 1874. As a reflection of the Romanticism art movement, this allegorical painting utilizes symbolic imagery to convey its themes.
In the artwork, a central, all-seeing eye occupies the upper middle portion, surrounded by a cloudy sky. Below the eye runs a banner featuring the words “FRIENDSHIP LOVE AND TRUTH.” The banner is intertwined with a variety of richly colored flowers, among them roses and possibly other flowers suggestive of a lush garden. Below the banner, an outstretched hand in a white sleeve presents a red heart in the palm, reinforcing the theme of love. To the left of the hand is a beehive, which traditionally symbolizes industry and cooperation, while below the hand is a bundle of sticks or rods tied together, a classical symbol of strength through unity known as a fasces.
The combination of these elements—the all-seeing eye, the prominence of the heart, the inclusion of the beehive, and the fasces—collectively suggests a message about the foundational values of societies or organizations: the virtues of friendship, love, and truth, under the watchful eye of an omnipresent force, possibly indicating a divine or moral oversight. The composition, imbued with vivid colors and detailed imagery, is evocative of the Romanticism movement’s fascination with nature, emotion, and allegorical subjects.
