''Prometheus'' is a 1934

gilded Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold over solid surfaces such as metal (most common), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, the metal below was trad ...

cast Cast may refer to: Music * Cast (band), an English alternative rock band * Cast (Mexican band), a progressive Mexican rock band * The Cast, a Scottish musical duo: Mairi Campbell and Dave Francis * ''Cast'', a 2012 album by Trespassers William ...

bronze sculpture Bronze is the most popular metal for cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as well as bronze elemen ...

Paul Manship Paul Howard Manship (December 24, 1885 – January 28, 1966) was an American sculptor. He consistently created mythological pieces in a classical style, and was a major force in the Art Deco movement. He is well known for his large public com ...

, located above the lower plaza at

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. Created by Roman Bronze Works in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, the statue is tall and weighs 8 tons. It depicts the Greek legend of the Titan

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, know ...

, who was the son of the Titan Iapetus and the Oceanid Clymene, brought fire to mankind by stealing it from the Chariot of the Sun, which resulted in

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion, ...

chaining

and sending an eagle to prey upon his continually regenerating liver.

Description

The recumbent figure is in a fountain basin in front of a gray, rectangular wall in the Lower Plaza, located in the middle of Rockefeller Center. The ring – representing the heavens – is inscribed with the signs of the zodiac, which are labeled on the inside of the ring. Through the ring, he falls toward the earth (the mountain) and the sea (the pool). The inscription – a paraphrase from

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Gree ...

– on the granite wall behind, reads: "Prometheus, teacher in every art, brought the fire that hath proved to mortals a means to mighty ends." ''Prometheus'' is considered the main artwork of Rockefeller Center, and is one of the complex's more well-known works of art. The seasonal Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is erected above the statue every winter. During the rest of the year, ''Prometheus'' serves as the main aesthetic draw in the lower plaza's outdoor restaurant.

Associated artworks

The statue was flanked by Manship's ''Youth'' and ''Maiden'' (the "Mankind Figures"), occupying the granite shelves to the rear. (The shelves are now topped by plants.) They were relocated to Palazzo d'Italia from 1939 to 1984, because Manship thought they did not fit visually. Originally gilded, they were given a brown

patina Patina ( or ) is a thin layer that variously forms on the surface of copper, brass, bronze and similar metals and metal alloys ( tarnish produced by oxidation or other chemical processes) or certain stones and wooden furniture (sheen produce ...

when restored. They were moved to the staircase above the skating rink in 2001, as if they are "announcing Prometheus". Four ''Prometheus''

maquette A ''maquette'' (French word for scale model, sometimes referred to by the Italian names ''plastico'' or ''modello'') is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture. An equivalent term is ''bozzetto'', from the Italian word for "sket ...

s exist: one at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds ...

, one at the

Minnesota Museum of Art The Minnesota Museum of American Art ("The M") is an American art museum located in the Historic Pioneer Endicott building in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The museum holds more than 5,000 artworks that showcase the unique voice of American artists fro ...

, and two in private collections. A full-scale replica existed Grand Indonesia Shopping Town recreated by Legacy Entertainment in Entertainment District's Fountain Atrium located in Jakarta, but it has been removed in late 2019 due to the new LED Screen display.

Models

The model for Prometheus was Leonardo Nole (–1998), an Italian-American lifeguard from

New Rochelle New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

who modeled for college art classes. He spent three months posing for this assignment in the spring of 1933. After World War II, he became a postal worker. Manship's assistant Angelo Colombo did most of the detail work when Nole was posing.

Henry Kreis Henry Kreis (1899–1963) was an American sculptor. Life He studied at the State School of Applied Arts in Munich. In 1947, he created the Wise virgins and Foolish virgins medal for the Society of Medalists. In 1935 Kreis designed the Connectic ...

, another assistant, sculpted the hair.

Ray Van Cleef Ray Van Cleef (c. 1911 – May 26, 1964) was an American baseball player, artist's model, magazine editor, physical culturist and columnist. Life Van Cleef was born circa 1911. He took up weightlifting in Siegmund Klein's gym. He played college b ...

posed for the original small-scale rendering.

Gallery

File:Leonardo Nole Prometheus.png, Leonardo Nole poses for the statue, 1933 File:Gilding Rock Cen Prometheus jeh.jpg, Regilding in 2011 File:Masked Prometheus jeh.jpg, Wearing a mask during the

COVID-19 pandemic in New York City The first case of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City was confirmed on March 1, 2020, though later research showed that the novel coronavirus had been circulating in New York City since January, with cases of community transmission confirme ...

References

External links