Central Park In Bronze

Location: 66th Street, mid-Park,

Artist/Designer: Jeronimo Sunol, sculptor; Napoleon Le Brun, architect           

Materials: Bronze, Rockport granite

Installation: 1894

Funding: The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society

 

 

This statue of Christopher Columbus by the Spaniard Jeronimo Sunol stands on a 12-foot pedestal at the south end of Central Park’s Mall. This Columbus is an old man, appearing sad and troubled, someone who has sailed the ocean blue and lived a few years to think about it. Adorned with Spanish regalia, he gazes at the sky. Is Columbus giving thanks to the heavens, pleading for the just rewards for his accomplishments that he never felt he received, or asking forgiveness for the many horrible deeds he perpetrated in his travels?

 

Sunol did two versions of this statue. The other is located in the Plaza de Colon in Madrid, high atop an honorific column. The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society commissioned this statue to honor the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ arrival in the Americas. The society was formed in 1869 to collect and make available means to research genealogical, historical, and biographical information on New Yorkers. It is still active today.