Princeton University. Property of the Trustees of Princeton University.
In the upper left, an inset depicts bright rays of sunlight piercing clouds and illuminating an array of scientific apparatus, books, and other tokens of the age of reason.
Any good Presbyterian of the time, as a product of the Enlightenment, would have recognized this imagery. In the minds of the founders, the College -- and by extension, Nassau Hall -- symbolized the union of the light of God with the light of learning. In the architecture and construction of Nassau Hall, they were proclaiming that they were here to stay -- the Great Awakening taken shape in stone and mortar.
In the upper left, an inset depicts bright rays of sunlight piercing clouds and illuminating an array of scientific apparatus, books, and other tokens of the age of reason.
Any good Presbyterian of the time, as a product of the Enlightenment, would have recognized this imagery. In the minds of the founders, the College -- and by extension, Nassau Hall -- symbolized the union of the light of God with the light of learning. In the architecture and construction of Nassau Hall, they were proclaiming that they were here to stay -- the Great Awakening taken shape in stone and mortar.