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SOM#068, Joseph A. Coletti, The Heavens Declare the Glory of God - Great Frigate Bird, 1963
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From the collection of John Birks
Number Issued: 875 Bronze
FROM THE ARTIST
The text came from the old testament: Psalm, XIX, 1, and the inspiration from Copernicus who wrote, “To know the mighty works of God, to comprehend his wisdom and majesty and power; to appreciate in degree, the wonderful working of his Laws, surely all this must be a pleasing and acceptable mode of worship to the Most High, to whom ignorance cannot be more grateful than knowledge.” Thus the obverse shows two angels declaring the Glory of God which is everlasting and all encompassing. The reverse shows the Great Frigate Bird, which according to authorities, once airborne, his flight is little short of miraculous. This bird, therefore, together with the constellation Scorpius, one of the most beautiful constellations and most easily identifiable, and in the Zodiac belt through which the sun, planets, and moon travel across the sky, symbolize our present preoccupation with outer space.
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