Atlas (statue)
40°45′32.12″N 73°58′37.84″W / 40.7589222°N 73.9771778°W
Atlas | |
---|---|
Artist | Lee Lawrie |
Year | 1937 |
Type | Bronze |
Dimensions | 14 m (45 ft) |
Location | New York City |
Atlas is a bronze statue in Rockefeller Center, within the International Building's courtyard, in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is across Fifth Avenue from St. Patrick's Cathedral. The sculpture depicts the ancient Greek Titan Atlas holding the heavens on his shoulders.
Atlas was created by the sculptor Lee Lawrie with the help of Rene Paul Chambellan and was installed in 1937. The sculpture is in the Art Deco style of Rockefeller Center. The figure of Atlas in the sculpture is 15 feet (4.6 m) tall, while the entire statue is 45 feet (14 m) tall. It weighs 14,000 pounds (6,400 kg), and is the largest sculpture at Rockefeller Center.
Atlas is depicted carrying the celestial vault on his shoulders. The north-south axis of the armillary sphere on his shoulders points towards the North Star's position relative to New York City. The statue stands on one muscular leg atop a small stone pedestal, whose corner faces Fifth Avenue.
In popular culture
The piece has since been appropriated as a symbol of the Objectivist movement and has been associated with Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged (1957).
It has been featured in almost every episode of the television series 30 Rock, appearing in numerous establishing shots depicting the 30 Rockefeller Plaza building, where the series is set. Most Rainforest Cafe locations have a statue resembling this one in a waterfall with a fountain, with the words "Rescue the Rainforest" in green neon letters across the equator of the globe.
Ridley Scott has cited the sculpture as the aesthetic inspiration for the character "Mother," on HBO Max's Raised by Wolves.
See also
- 1937 establishments in New York City
- 1937 sculptures
- Art Deco sculptures and memorials
- Bronze sculptures in Manhattan
- Buildings and structures completed in 1937
- Nude sculptures in New York (state)
- Outdoor sculptures in Manhattan
- Rockefeller Center
- Sculptures of Greek gods
- Statues in New York City
- Atlas (mythology)