Dan Rice, Chopper4 Reporter
That is the name of my favorite statue in the city. It also sits atop the Municipal Building in lower Manhattan and is hard to see from the ground. She was placed on the 40 story building in March 1913 and stands 25 feet tall, making it the largest statue in Manhattan and second only to the Statue of Liberty as the tallest statue in New York City. (Click here to check it out.)
What fascinates me about this work of art is the amount of detail that people cannot see from 580 feet below. Remember the time this building was built. In 1913, the heart of Manhattan was still in the area we call Lower Manhattan. The New York Times had moved uptown to 42nd Street less than ten years before, an area people were just starting to settle into. And skyscrapers were just coming to be. The Woolworth Building was completed a month later and was the tallest skyscraper at the time. There were not many surrounding buildings to go up and look at this statue. Yet it was important for the city to commission this statue because of what she and the building symbolized: unification of the five boroughs.
When we took a closer look at the statue from the helicopter, many of the details became very visible. In her left hand she cradles a crown with five peaks. Each peak represents each of the boroughs. What I did not mention on the air this morning was that each peak looks like a city wall. Below the peaks, around the rim, are dolphins. They acknowledge New York City as a seaport. On her right arm is a shield. Zooming in on the shield reveals the seal of New York City. In her right hand she holds a laurel branch and wears a crown of laurel on her head while she is draped in a robe, standing barefoot.
Just goes to show you that you never know where you will see great works of art in a city like New York!
As always, you can post comments below or e-mail me at chopper4@nbcuni.com.
It’s a disgrace that the great Audrey Munson is not mentioned. When is her story going to make tv?
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Munson
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http://www.barrypopik.com/article/26/audrey-munson-new-yorks-civic-fame-and-miss-manhattan-san-franciscos-worlds-fair-girl-and-our-miss-america-or-american-venus
Barry,
I understand your frustration. In researching Civic Fame, I came across many articles about Audrey Munson. Her story is quite tragic. For those not familiar with her, she was the model for this and several other statues in several cities including our own. She was the model numerous sculptors and painters wanted to use. Kind of like a supermodel of the early 1900’s. After a trip to the west coast, she tried to find fame in silent movies. Unfortunately she only made 4 films and will be remembered for being the first nude female on film.
When she came back to New York, she was caught up in an affair with a married man that became messy. Eventually she started to lose her mind and was placed in a hospital when she was in her late 30’s and stayed there for the rest of her life, passing away in 1996 (I believe) at the age of 105! A very tragic story.
Getting back to your point Barry. I wanted to include information about her in the story, but there just simply was not enough time to go into it. The piece I did was about the specific details sculpted into the statue. I felt I would do her story an injustice by mentioning her as some sort of tidbit! Instead, I would like to use another piece she modeled for (perhaps Pulitzer Fountain at Grand Army Plaza?) to talk about her story and let the public know about her.
Thank you for the comment and taking the time to visit the blog. I enjoy the input from the viewers/readers.
Dan
Wow, that’s one crazy story!
her story is very interesting Dan. I’ll be looking for to it.
–Anonymous-Coward.