People watching skaters, towards gold Prometheus sculpture, flags, '30 Rock', sunken ice-rink, Rockefeller Centre, New York, USA
Midtown Manhattan's 1930s Rockefeller Centre is one the world's biggest business complexes. It comprises 19 Art Deco buildings over an area of 22 acres. Philanthropist Rockefeller, building it to house the TV and radio industry, called it 'Radio City'. The centrepiece, in the background of this shot, is the 70-floor, 266m (872 ft) high GE Building or '30 Rock'. Formerly known as the RCA Building, this was re-named in the 1980s after General Electric reacquired RCA, a company which it had helped found in 1919. The ice-rink, in a sunken courtyard in front of the GE Building, is hugely popular in winter. In summer it serves as a venue for concerts and outdoor movies. Paul Manship's gilded sculpture of Prometheus bringing fire to the world is the Rockefeller Centre's best know artwork. It was cast in 1934 by the Roman Bronze Works, Long Island City, New York, a company specialising in the Lost Wax casting process. When installed, as a dramatic backdrop for ice-skaters, is was scorned by some and called 'Leaping Louie'. The model was Leonard Nole, a bodybuilder from New Rochelle, New York, who was paid $1 an hour for his modelling work. The sculpture of Prometheus on a rock descending through a Zodiac ring weighs 8 tons and, 18 feet high, is times life-size. It has to be regularly re-gilded.
Size: 4256px × 2831px
Location: Ice Rink, Rockefeller Centre, Midtown Manhattan. New York City, USA
Photo credit: © robert harrison / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 30, architecture, art, artwork, building, casting, centre, city, concrete, deco, flags, fountain, ge, gilded, gold, ice, ice-rink, ice-skaters, lost, manhattan, manship, midtown, national, paul, people, plaza, prometheus, rink, rock, rockefeller, sculpture, skating, skyscrapers, sport, sporting, water, wax, york
