Central Park In Bronze

Location: 69th Street, mid-Park

Artist/Designer: Christophe Fratin

Materials:  Bronze, Quincy light granite

Installation: 1863

Funding: Gift of Gordon Webster Burnham

 

Fratin was an animalier, a term coined in the French press in the 1830s. When it was first used, it was an insult, because it was thought that the only proper bronze sculptures were likenesses of human beings or copies of Greek and Roman statues.

 

Cast in 1850 in Paris, Eagles and Prey is the oldest bronze statue in any New York City park, although the statue of Schiller was placed in Central Park before Fratin’s piece. Eagles and Prey has been praised for its details, such as the texture of the eagles’ feathers and goat’s fur. Some critics have felt its depiction of a life-and-death struggle is disturbing and contrary to the peaceful experience intended for park-goers.