Bethesda Fountain, Central Park

Bethesda Fountain in Central Park, Manhattan. It was designed by Emma Stebbins (1815-1882) in 1868. She was the first woman to receive a public art commission from New York City. It was installed in 1873, with the neoclassical sculpture of the Angel of the Waters at the top, standing above four small cherubim. The eight-foot bronze Angel carries a lily in one hand while the other remains outstretched. The Fountain is one of the largest in the City of New York, measuring 26 feet high by 96 feet wide.

Photograph from the album "Central Park Views", presented to the City of Paris by the Department of Public Parks, New York. Original title: "The Fountain". Unknown publisher (1878-1881). Source: Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF).

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