'Prometheus' on a rock descends through a zodiac ring. The sculpture is by Paul Manship. 'Prometheus' is Rockefeller Center's best-known sculpture. The inscription behind (proposed by Manship) is by the Greek playwright Aeschylus reads, 'Prometheus teacher in every art, brought the fire that hath proved to mortals a means to mighty ends.' The sculpture makes an unusual backdrop for ice skaters and diners. When the sculpture was installed, it was scorned by some and it was called 'Leaping Louie.' It was cast in 1934 by Roman Bronze Works in Long Island City, New York. The model for Prometheus was Leonard Nole, a bodybuilder from New Rochelle, New York. He was paid $1 an hour for his modeling work. The bronze sculpture has to be regularly re-gilded. It weighs 8 tons. The figure is 2.5-times life-size. Prometheus was the Greek fire god and friend of mankind. It was thought that he gave mankind the gift of life. Prometheus gave fire to man, but this brought grief and destruction. As a result of his actions, he made an enemy of Zeus, who chained Prometheus to a rock and sent an eagle in every day to eat Prometheus' liver. His liver was restored each night. After 30 years, Hercules rescued Prometheus by slaying the eagle.
Paul Manship
(b. 1885 St. Paul, MN d. NY 1966)
became one of the greatest American sculptors of the first half of the 20th century. He studied at the St. Paul Institute of Art 1892-1903 and then moved to New York to study at the Art Students League. He became the assistant to the sculptor Solon Borglum (1868-1922). Next, Manship went to Philadelphia to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. In 1909, he won the Prix de Rome, which entitled him to work at the American Academy in Rome from 1909-12. He traveled to Italy, Greece, and Egypt where the art of the Etruscans and ancient Greece and Egypt would influence his work.When Manship returned to New York, he set up a studio and developed a simplified style of sculpture. His fountain sculpture 'Prometheus' (gilt bronze, 18 feet high, 1933-8), served as the focal point for Rockefeller Center's plaza. Just below it is the famous ice-skating rink. Manship's work is linked with the Art Deco style. He produced over 700 works in his career. Many of his large bronzes were cast in smaller sizes and are still avidly collected. The American Battle Monuments Commission chose him to create monuments after WWI and WWII. They are located, respectively, in the American Cemetery at Thiaucourt, France (1926) and in the military cemetery at Anzio, Italy. He has works in Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina including: 'Actaeon,' 'Cycle of Life,' 'Diana,' 'The Flight of Europa' and 'Evening.'
Roman Bronze Works
(1899 1977)
was the second foundry started by Riccardo Bertelli (b.1872 Genoa d. Rome 1955). The first was started in 1897 by Bertelli with fellow immigrant and sculptor Giuseppe Moretti, and backed by a $20,000 loan from Celestino Piva, a wealthy silk importer. It ended in financial failure in 1899. Bertelli bought out Moretti's share, reorganized the business, and renamed it 'Roman Bronze Works.' By 1900, the foundry had relocated to Brooklyn and was again backed by Celestino Piva.Bertelli had wanted to be an artist, but his father, an admiral, insisted on a practical education. He received his degrees in chemical engineering and science from the University of Turin. He arrived in New York in 1895. By 1900, Roman Bronze Works specialized in the lost-wax casting process, the first foundry devoted exclusively to this method. (Lost-wax casting, which depends on a gelatin mold, had advantages: more precise replication of textural detail, the capacity for greater experimentation with complex compositions, and the ability to cast works in single pieces rather than assembling parts into a whole.) The foundry acquired the exclusive casting rights to Frederick Remington's works. Bertelli's 'The Cheyenne' was the first Remington sculpture to be cast in one piece. In 1921, more than 100 models of important statuary were destroyed in a fire which ruined the Roman Bronze Works factory. Four Remington statuettes were among the works destroyed. The business continued however. In 1924, it cast the large equestrian Sam Houston Monument (in Houston) by Enrico Filberto Cerracchio. In 1928, the company cast the John H. Patterson Memorial, the last known work by Giuseppe Moretti. The following sculptors had work cast by Roman Bronze Works: Anna Hyatt Huntington, Frederick MacMonnies, Paul Manship, Elie Nadelman, Charles M. Russell, and Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The company archives are in the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, TX.
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1) Rockefeller Center Map [90]
