31x31x74 in., bronze, 2003
Permanent collection, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Surrounded by Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s new Children’s Hospital and various research buildings stands “The Ladder”; a bronze sculpture inspired by a 21st century biogenetic interpretation of Jacob’s dream. Jacob dreamed of a ladder, four messengers, and God telling him his descendants will flourish.
In 1953, Watson and Crick created the model of the physical material of heredity, commonly referred to as the ladder of DNA. Biblical scholars say the ladder in Jacob’s dream had a bend in its path, much like the curving, helical shape of DNA. The four messengers “ascending and descending” remarkably mirror the four nucleic acids which travel up and down the ladder of DNA. The nucleic acids carry genetic information up and down the sugar-phosphate strands, like the angels carry information to and from God.
If the simple meaning of the ancient text is about future generations, perhaps the prescient interpretation is that the chemical structure of genetic material resembles a ladder. The biblical ladder may be our first glimmer of the notion that the ladder of DNA is how man creates future generations.
Passers-by may not know the scientific impetus that inspired this sculpture; more than likely they simply see the playful, gravity defying babies that invigorate the garden. Either way, I hope that in some small way “The Ladder” offers a smile and a prayer that the babies in the building next door will once again be full of life and climbing.</p>
