Giovanni da Verrazzano – Statues In The Park (52)-The Battery NYC This heroic sculpture of Italian explorer and navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano (c. 1485-1528) is by Ettore Ximenes (1855–1926) and was dedicated October 9, 1909. At the time of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration of 1909, the Italian community was mobilized by Carlo Barsotti, the editor of the Italian language newspaper Il Progresso, to contribute funds toward the creation of this statue. The larger than life bronze bust of the proud explorer was stationed on an elaborate granite pedestal with side volutes, with a bronze female allegorical figure representing discovery installed on the façade.
Joan of Arc Memorial - Statues In The Park (54) -Riverside Park NYC This impressive bronze equestrian sculpture of 15th century French patriot and martyr Joan of Arc (1411–1431) is one of the finest works of art in the Parks collection. Created by the eminent artist and art patron Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington (1876–1973), the piece was dedicated in 1915. Jeanne La Pucelle, later known as Joan of Arc, was a peasant maiden said to have been divinely inspired to help liberate the French from English rule. In New York, a prominent group of citizens formed a Joan of Arc monument committee in 1909. Their efforts coincided with those of a young sculptor, Anna Hyatt Huntington, to create a sculpture of Joan. Huntington’s version is both heroic and infused with naturalistic detail. For Joan’s armor, she conducted research at the arms and armory division of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the refinement of the equine anatomy was based on a horse borrowed from the fire department of her native town of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Her niece posed astride a barrel, as she modeled the figure, first nude, then in costume. On December 6, 1915, the sculpture was unveiled in an elaborate ceremony, which included a military band and French Ambassador Jean J. Jusserand. Mrs. Thomas Alva Edison was among those selected to pull the cord that released the shroud.
