Southern Cross sculpture

2003

Construction by Chris O'Dyer
Commissioned with the support of Dr Bruce Reid AM KNO

This sculpture by Jon Hawley was inspired by one of the earliest known images of the Southern Cross: a wood engraving in the rare manuscript Lettera di Andrea Corsali (Letters of Andrea Corsali), made in Florence in 1516. In the manuscript, Corsali describes the stars as forming a ‘cross so fair and beautiful, that no other heavenly sign may be compared to it’.* The manuscript is on permanent loan to the Mitchell Library from the Bruce and Joy Reid Foundation, Sydney.

Mounted on the vestibule wall above the marble staircase, the sculpture is made from cobalt blue glass, stainless steel, clear perspex and fibre optic lights that change colour throughout the day. It was the first major decorative element to be added to the Mitchell Library since the extensions of 1942.