Central Park In Bronze

Location: 65th Street, east side

Artist/Designer: Andrea Spandini, sculptor; Fernando Texidor, designer; Edward Coe Embury, architect           

Materials: Bronze, iron, brick, limestone

Installation: 1965

Funding: George T. Delacorte

 

For 50 years, this three-tiered whimsical clock has delighted children and adults visiting the Central Park Zoo. Two monkeys on top introduce the hour by striking a bell. Then a glockenspiel plays one of 32 different songs while six dancing animals, appearing to play musical instruments, circle the second tier. The act is repeated every half hour between 8 AM and 6 PM.

 

The clock was a gift to the Park from George Delacorte, a wealthy publisher who delighted in the clocks he saw in Europe. Delacorte gave many gifts to Central Park, including the Alice in Wonderland statue and the Delacorte Theater, which stages Shakespeare in the Park every summer.