ivory tower

ivory tower
ivory tower as a symbol of artistic or intellectual aloofness, by 1889, from Fr. tour d'ivorie, used in 1837 by critic Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve (1804-1869) with reference to the poet Alfred de Vigny, whom he accused of excessive aloofness.
Et Vigny, plus secret, Comme en sa tour d'ivoire, avant midi rentrait. [Saine-Beuve, "Pensées d'Août, a M. Villemain," 1837]
Used earlier as a type of a wonder or a symbol of "the ideal." The literal image is perhaps from Song of Solomon [vii.4]:
Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus. [KJV]

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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