Central Park In Bronze

Location:  66th Street, mid-Park

Artist/Designer: Sir John Steell

Materials: Bronze, Aberdeen granite 

Installation: 1872

Funding: Scottish-Americans 

 

Sir Walter Scott is credited with inventing the historical novel. He began his literary career by translating German ballads and a work of Goethe into his native Scottish, then wrote ballads that celebrated Scottish traditions. Eventually Scott wrote historical novels such as Ivanhoe and Rob Roy and narrative poems such as The Lady of the Lake and Marmion.

 

Scottish-Americans, proud of their countryman, raised the funds for this statue for the 100th anniversary of Scott’s  birth. They selected Sir John Steell, also a Scot, to honor the author and popularizer of Scottish history. Scott is depicted pen in hand, with his dog beside him.