Sunday, January 23, 2011

Bethesda Terrace & Fountain, Central Park, Manhattan, New York City

Bethesda Terrace overlooks The Lake in New York City's Central Park. It is on two levels, united by two grand staircases and a lesser one that passes under Terrace Drive to provide passage southward to the Elkan Naumburg bandshell and The Mall, of which this is the architectural culmination, the theatrical set-piece at the center of the park. The upper terrace flanks the 72nd Street Cross Drive and the lower terrace provides a podium for viewing the Lake. The mustard-olive colored carved stone is New Brunswick sandstone, with a harder stone for cappings, with granite steps and landings, and herringbone paving of Roman brick laid on edge. Bethesda Fountain is the central feature on the lower level of the terrace, constructed in 1859-64,[1] which is enclosed within two elliptical balustrades.[2]. The pool is centered by a fountain sculpture designed by Emma Stebbins in 1868 and unveiled in 1873.[3] Stebbins was the first woman to receive a public commission for a major work of art in New York City.[3] The bronze, eight-foot statue depicts a female winged angel touching down upon the top of the fountain, where water spouts and cascades into an upper basin and into the surrounding pool. It was the only statue in the park called for in the original design. Beneath her are four four-foot cherubs representing Temperance, Purity, Health, and Peace.[3] Also called the Angel of the Waters, the statue refers to the Gospel of John, Chapter 5 where there is a description of an angel ...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro3u_YH8DZk&hl=en

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