An Allegory of Science in the 21st Century employs the language of classical allegory to examine the place of scientific knowledge in contemporary culture. Drawing inspiration from Nicolas Poussin and the traditions of seventeenth-century landscape painting, the tapestry presents a symbolic figure moving through a setting marked by collapse and disintegration. Broken instruments, vandalised monuments and ruined architecture surround the scene, suggesting the vulnerability of institutions that once embodied certainty and intellectual authority. The work reflects upon the social and philosophical pressures confronting scientific achievement in the twenty- first century. Questions surrounding truth, expertise and competing systems of belief are evoked through imagery associated with decline, illustrating that even science seems to be assailable in the postmodern age.
