NECESSITAS—VIS—LIBERTAS
A BAS-RELIEF
A tall, bony old woman with an iron face and a dull, impassive gaze is walking along with great strides, and pushing before her, with her hand as harsh as a stick, another woman.
This woman, of vast size, powerful, corpulent, with the muscles of a Hercules, and a tiny head on a bull-like neck-and blind—is pushing on in her turn a small, thin young girl.
This girl alone has eyes which see; she resists, turns backward, elevates her thin red arms; her animated countenance expresses impatience and hardihood…. She does not wish to obey, she does not wish to advance in the direction whither she is being impelled … and, nevertheless, she must obey and advance.
Necessitas—Vis—Libertas:
Whoever likes may interpret this.
May, 1878.