''Atlas'' is a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or Casting (metalworking), cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to ...

in Rockefeller Center, within the International Building's courtyard, in

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It is across

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

from St. Patrick's Cathedral. The sculpture depicts the ancient Greek Titan

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...

holding the heavens on his shoulders. ''Atlas'' was created by the sculptor Lee Lawrie with the help of Rene Paul Chambellan and was installed in 1937. ''Atlas'' was cast at the Roman Bronze Works, a subsidiary of the General Bronze Corporation in Corona, Queens. The Roman Bronze Works had long been a sub-contractor to Louis C. Tiffany's Tiffany Studios which was then bought out by the General Bronze Corporation in 1928. Under the ownership of General Bronze, the Roman Bronze Works produced some of its finest bronze artwork from sculptors like Paul Manship, Rene Chambellan, and Lawrie. The sculpture is in the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style of Rockefeller Center. The figure of Atlas in the sculpture is tall, while the entire statue is tall. It weighs , and is the largest sculpture at Rockefeller Center. Atlas is depicted carrying the celestial vault on his shoulders. The north–south axis of the armillary sphere on his shoulders points towards the North Star's position relative to New York City. The statue stands on one muscular leg atop a small stone pedestal, whose corner faces Fifth Avenue.

In popular culture

The piece has since been appropriated as a symbol of the Objectivist movement and has been associated with

Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum; , 1905March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and philosopher. She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system which s ...

's novel '' Atlas Shrugged'' (1957). It has been featured in almost every episode of the television series ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satire, satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live' ...

'', appearing in numerous establishing shots depicting the 30 Rockefeller Plaza building, where the series is set. Ridley Scott has cited the sculpture as the aesthetic inspiration for the character "Mother," on HBO Max's '' Raised by Wolves''.

References

External links

''Atlas''
from Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
''Atlas'' from rockefellercenter.com
{{Rockefeller Center 1937 establishments in New York City 1937 sculptures Art Deco sculptures and memorials Bronze sculptures in Manhattan Buildings and structures completed in 1937 Nude sculptures in New York (state) Outdoor sculptures in Manhattan Rockefeller Center Sculptures of Greek gods Statues in New York City Atlas (mythology)

In popular culture

See also

References

External links