Columbus Circle, New York, view from the Time Warner Building
Statue of Christopher Columbus
The monument at the center of Columbus Circle, created by Italian sculptor Gaetano Russo, was erected as part of New York's 1892 commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus' landing in the Americas. Constructed with funds raised by Il Progresso, a New York City-based Italian-language newspaper, the monument consists of a marble statue of Columbus atop a 70-foot (21 m) granite rostral column decorated with bronze reliefs representing Columbus' ships: the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María. Its pedestal features an angel holding a globe. [Source: Wikipedia]
Close-up of the three ships: Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria
Base of the statue of an angel holding a globe
Aerial view of the Circle, with Central Park
USS Maine National Monument, in front of Central Park
On the northeast lies the Merchant's Gate to Central Park, dominated by the USS Maine National Monument designed by Harold Van Buren Magonigle and sculpted by Attilio Piccirilli, who did the colossal group and figures and Charles Keck, who was responsible for the "In Memoriam" plaque. An imposing Beaux-Arts edifice of marble and gilded bronze, it was built in 1913 as a memorial to sailors killed aboard the battleship USS Maine, whose mysterious 1898 explosion in Havana harbor precipitated the Spanish-American War. [Source: Wikipedia]
Close-up of the gilded bronze figure: Columbia Triumphant
The gilded bronze figures atop the pylon represent Columbia Triumphant leading a seashell chariot of three hippocampi - part horse, part sea-creature and are said to be cast from metal recovered from the guns of the Maine itself. The figures reflect America's new position as a dominant world force just as the imposing Beaux-Arts structure symbolizes America's bold and grandiose domination of territories. [Source: Central Park Conservancy]-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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