Poster, “Goddess of Light” (1888)

From the 1880s until the turn of the twentieth century, female allegorical figures commonly appeared in electricity advertisements, where they symbolized progress, freedom, and emancipation. The “Goddess of Light” depicted here was supposed to elevate electricity to the level of the spiritual. The figure also became the trademark of Germany’s General Electric Company [Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft or AEG].