# Atlas (statue) > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Atlas_(statue) > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Atlas_(statue).md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_(statue) > Source revision: 1349507788 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Statue of Atlas at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, New York, U.S.}} {{italic title}} {{Coord|40|45|32.12|N|73|58|37.84|W|display=title}} {{Infobox artwork | image_file = New York City, May 2014 - 033.JPG | image_size = 200px | title = Atlas | alt = | other_language_1 = | other_title_1 = | other_language_2 = | other_title_2 = | artist = [Lee Lawrie](/source/Lee_Lawrie) | year = {{Start date|1937}} | type = [Bronze](/source/Bronze) | height_imperial = 45 | width_imperial = | length_imperial = | imperial_unit = ft | metric_unit = m | city = [New York City](/source/New_York_City) | museum = | coordinates = | owner = }} thumb|''Atlas'' statue located at Rockefeller Center |alt=Bronze Atlas statue, depicting Atlas the titan in Ancient Greek mythology, bent over holding up a wire sphere representing Earth. Located at Rockefeller Center, seen from below. '''''Atlas''''' is a [bronze](/source/bronze) [statue](/source/statue) in [Rockefeller Center](/source/Rockefeller_Center), within the [International Building](/source/International_Building_(Manhattan))'s courtyard, in [Midtown Manhattan](/source/Midtown_Manhattan) in [New York City](/source/New_York_City). It is across [Fifth Avenue](/source/Fifth_Avenue) from [St. Patrick's Cathedral](/source/St._Patrick's_Cathedral_(Manhattan)). The sculpture depicts the ancient Greek Titan [Atlas](/source/Atlas_(mythology)) holding the heavens on his shoulders. ''Atlas'' was created by the sculptor [Lee Lawrie](/source/Lee_Lawrie) with the help of [Rene Paul Chambellan](/source/Rene_Paul_Chambellan){{cite book| first=Christine| last=Roussel| title=The Art of Rockefeller Center| url=https://archive.org/details/guidetoartofr00chri| url-access=registration| location=New York| publisher=W.W. Norton & Company| date=May 17, 2006| isbn=978-0-3930-6082-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/guidetoartofr00chri/page/113 113]}} and was installed in 1937.{{cite web | title=New Sculpture Shown |work=The New York Times | date=1937-09-12 | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/09/12/468926852.pdf | access-date=2017-11-21}} ''Atlas'' was cast at the [Roman Bronze Works](/source/Roman_Bronze_Works), a subsidiary of the [General Bronze Corporation](/source/General_Bronze_Corporation) in [Corona, Queens](/source/Corona%2C_Queens).{{cite news |title=John Polachek, An Industrialist |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1955/04/18/93802563.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 |access-date=18 December 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=18 April 1955 |location=Obituaries |pages=22 |quote=In 1903, he became a supervisor of bronze manufacturing for Tiffany Studios. Founder of General Bronze Corporation Dies – Products Adorn Leading Buildings}}{{cite book |last1=Eidelberg |first1=Martin |last2=McClelland |first2=Nany |title=Behind the Scenes of Tiffany Glassmaking: the Nash Notebooks |date=2001 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=9780312282653 |pages=2–10 |edition=1st |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Id9kQgAACAAJ}}{{cite web |title=A Chronology of Louis C. Tiffany and Tiffany Studios |url=https://www.tiffanystudios.org/tiffany-chronology.html |website=Tiffany Studios |access-date=17 December 2023}}{{cite web |title=Tiffany Studios |url=https://morsemuseum.org/louis-comfort-tiffany/tiffany-studios/ |website=The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art |access-date=17 December 2023}}{{cite web |title=Museum Archivist |url=https://files.archivists.org/groups/museum/newsletter/pastissues/pdfs/vol18no1.pdf |website=Archivists.org |publisher=Amon Carter Museum of American Art |access-date=23 December 2023 |location=Fort Worth, TX |date=June 2005}} The Roman Bronze Works had long been a sub-contractor to [Louis C. Tiffany's](/source/Louis_Comfort_Tiffany) [Tiffany Studios](/source/Tiffany_glass){{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEFDD173CF934A15751C1A961948260 |first=Christopher |last=Gray |title=Streetscapes: Tiffany Studios; In Queens, a Remembrance of a Luminous Legend |work=The New York Times |date=27 December 1987 |access-date=25 September 2008}} which was then bought out by the [General Bronze Corporation](/source/General_Bronze_Corporation) in 1928.{{cite news |title=BRONZE CORPORATION BUYS TIFFANY STUDIOS; John Polachek Again in Control of Metal Working Plant Which He Once Managed. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/01/31/issue.html |access-date=29 December 2023 |agency=The New York Times |issue=Business & Finance |publisher=The New York Times Publishing |date=31 January 1928}}{{cite news |last1=Erler |first1=Diana |title=Creating a New Bronze Age |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle/55230082/ |access-date=28 December 2023 |agency=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |date=19 August 1928 |pages=75}}{{cite book |last1=Rosenfeld |first1=Lucy |title=A Century of American Sculpture: The Roman Bronze Works Foundry |date=2002 |publisher=Schiffer Publishing |isbn=9780764315190 |pages=11 |edition=1st |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aB43AQAAIAAJ&q=subsidiary%20of%20general%20bronze%20corporation}} Under the ownership of General Bronze, the Roman Bronze Works produced some of its finest bronze artwork from sculptors like [Paul Manship](/source/Paul_Manship), [Rene Chambellan](/source/Rene_Chambellan), and Lawrie.{{cite web |last1=General Bronze Corporation |title=The General Bronze Corporation and Rene Paul Chambellan |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc2.ark:/13960/s258s75zhfq&seq=8 |website=Internet Archive, Columbia University |publisher=General Bronze Corporation |access-date=17 December 2023 |year=1946}} The sculpture is in the [Art Deco](/source/Art_Deco) style of Rockefeller Center. The figure of Atlas in the sculpture is {{convert|15|ft|m}} tall, while the entire statue is {{convert|45|ft|m}} tall.{{cite web|url=http://architecture.learnhub.com/lesson/5870-examples-of-art-deco-in-new-york-city |title=Examples of Art Deco in New York City |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108095828/http://architecture.learnhub.com/lesson/5870-examples-of-art-deco-in-new-york-city |archive-date=2010-01-08 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.museumplanet.com/tour.php/nyc/rc/16 |title=Atlas sculpture by Lee Lawrie |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100826062506/http://www.museumplanet.com/tour.php/nyc/rc/16 |archive-date=2010-08-26 }} It weighs {{convert|14,000|lbs|kg}},{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/nyregion/04atlas.html|title=Bringing a Smile (Well, a Shine) to a Burdened Statue of Atlas | work=The New York Times | first=David W. | last=Dunlap | date=2008-05-04 | access-date=2010-04-25}} and is the largest sculpture at Rockefeller Center.{{cite web|url=http://photohome.com/photos/new-york-pictures/new-york-city/atlas-1.html |title=Atlas (Statue in New York) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091201013959/http://photohome.com/photos/new-york-pictures/new-york-city/atlas-1.html |archive-date=2009-12-01 }} Atlas is depicted carrying the celestial vault on his shoulders.{{cite book | last=Krinsky | first=Carol H. |author-link=Carol Herselle Krinsky | title=Rockefeller Center | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1978 | isbn=978-0-19-502404-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7xlDAQAAIAAJ | page= 151}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/1985RockefellerCenter.pdf|title=Rockefeller Center Designation Report|date=1985|publisher=[City of New York](/source/Government_of_New_York_City); [New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission](/source/New_York_City_Landmarks_Preservation_Commission)|last=Adams|first=Janet|page=151|access-date=2017-12-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107113311/http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/1985RockefellerCenter.pdf|archive-date=2017-11-07|url-status=dead}} The north–south axis of the [armillary sphere](/source/armillary_sphere) on his shoulders points towards the [North Star](/source/North_Star)'s position relative to New York City.{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,757271,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501031631/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,757271,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 1, 2011|title=Art: Rockefeller Atlas | magazine=Time | date=1937-01-11 | access-date=2010-04-25}} The statue stands on one muscular leg atop a small stone pedestal, whose corner faces Fifth Avenue. ==In popular culture== Most [Rainforest Cafe](/source/Rainforest_Cafe) locations have a Atlas statue and [water](/source/water_fountain) [fountain](/source/fountain) holding a [Earth](/source/Earth) [globe](/source/Earth_globe) with the words "Rescue The Rainforest" to communicate a conversation message in the middle of the [restaurant](/source/theme_restaurant). The piece has since been appropriated as a symbol of the [Objectivist](/source/Objectivism) movement{{cite web|title=History of Atlas Shrugged |publisher=Ayn Rand Institute |access-date=January 14, 2013 |url=http://atlasshrugged.com/the-book/genesis-of-the-book/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140210182843/http://atlasshrugged.com/the-book/genesis-of-the-book/ |archive-date=February 10, 2014 }} and has been associated with [Ayn Rand](/source/Ayn_Rand)'s novel ''[Atlas Shrugged](/source/Atlas_Shrugged)'' (1957). It has been featured in almost every episode of the television series ''[30 Rock](/source/30_Rock)'', appearing in numerous [establishing shot](/source/establishing_shot)s depicting the [30 Rockefeller Plaza](/source/30_Rockefeller_Plaza) building, where the series is set. [Ridley Scott](/source/Ridley_Scott) has cited the sculpture as the aesthetic inspiration for the character "Mother," on [HBO Max](/source/HBO_Max)'s ''[Raised by Wolves](/source/Raised_by_Wolves_(American_TV_series))''.{{Cite web|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/raised-by-wolves-ridley-scott-aaron-guzikowski-interview/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200902183453/https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/raised-by-wolves-ridley-scott-aaron-guzikowski-interview/|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 2, 2020|title = Raised by Wolves: Ridley Scott and Aaron Guzikowski Talk Parenting on a New Planet|date = September 2020}} ==See also== * [Atlas (architecture)](/source/Atlas_(architecture)) * [Farnese Atlas](/source/Farnese_Atlas) ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== {{Commons category|Atlas statue (New York City)|Atlas statue}} * [http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&uri=full=3100001~!19454~!0 ''Atlas''] from Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture of the [Smithsonian American Art Museum](/source/Smithsonian_American_Art_Museum) * [https://www.rockefellercenter.com/art/atlas/ ''Atlas'' from rockefellercenter.com] {{Public art in Manhattan}} {{Rockefeller Center}} Category:1937 establishments in New York City Category:1937 sculptures Category:Art Deco sculptures and memorials Category:Bronze sculptures in Manhattan Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1937 Category:Nude sculptures in New York (state) Category:Outdoor sculptures in Manhattan Category:Rockefeller Center Category:Sculptures of Greek gods Category:Statues in New York City Category:Atlas (mythology) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Atlas (statue)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_(statue)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_(statue)?action=history)). 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