Prometheus (Manship)


Prometheus is a 1934 gilded, cast bronze sculpture by Paul Manship, located above the lower plaza at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, New York City. Created by Roman Bronze Works in Queens, the statue is tall and weighs 8 tons.
It depicts the Greek legend of the Titan Prometheus, bringing fire to mankind by stealing it from the Chariot of the Sun.

Description

The recumbent figure is in a fountain basin in front of a gray, rectangular wall in the Lower Plaza, located in the middle of Rockefeller Center.
The ring — representing the heavens — is inscribed with the signs of the zodiac, which are labeled on the inside of the ring. Through the ring, he falls toward the earth and the sea.
The inscription – a paraphrase from Aeschylus – on the granite wall behind, reads: "Prometheus, teacher in every art, brought the fire that hath proved to mortals a means to mighty ends."
Prometheus is considered the main artwork of Rockefeller Center, and is one of the complex's more well-known works of art. The seasonal Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is erected above the statue every winter. During the rest of the year, Prometheus serves as the main aesthetic draw in the lower plaza's outdoor restaurant.

Associated artworks

The statue was flanked by Manship's Youth and Maiden, occupying the granite shelves to the rear.
They were relocated to Palazzo d'Italia from 1939 to 1984, because Manship thought they did not fit visually. Originally gilded, they were given a brown patina when restored. They were moved to the staircase above the skating rink in 2001, as if they are "announcing Prometheus".
Five Prometheus maquettes exist: one at the Smithsonian Institution's Smithsonian American Art Museum, one at the Minnesota Museum of Art, One at the Fountain Atrium Grand Indonesia Mall Jakarta, and two in private collections.

Models

The model for Prometheus was Leonardo Nole, an Italian-American lifeguard from New Rochelle who modeled for college art classes. He spent three months posing for this assignment in the spring of 1933. After World War II, he became a postal worker.
Manship's assistant Angelo Colombo did most of the detail work when Nole was posing. Henry Kreis, another assistant, sculpted the hair.
Ray Van Cleef posed for the original small-scale rendering.