His collection remained dear to him throughout his life, and when he fled Vienna at the onset of World War II, he managed to have the entire collection spirited away to his home in exile in London. A favorite of his pieces was a figurine of Athena, though without her typical attributes of the spear and aegis – a shield with the snaky-haired head of the gorgon, Medusa on it. The decapitated head of Medusa symbolized castration, though the fearsome act was mitigated by the appearance of the snakes, symbols of and replacements for the lost phalluses. Devoid of these empowering attributes, the statuette represents Freud’s determination to understand female sexuality as secondary to normative male sexuality.
The Smart held a symposium in conjunction with the exhibition, which featured lecturers from around the country.