The Angel of the Waters

On 72nd Street, almost directly between the East and West side of Central Park sits the Bethesda Fountain. Overlooking the lake, it is swarmed with tourists looking for a picturesque family moment in the summer months. In the winter, with the fountain drained and the trees barren, the terrace offers a sense of stark solitude and the fountain is eerie and stunning. Out of the fountain rises Emma Stebbins’ Angel of the Waters. The sculpture, a reference to the Gospel of John wherein an angel blesses the waters of Bethesda, was designed in 1868 and unveiled in 1873. The statue depicts an angel, wings outstretched, with one hand clutching a lily and the other blessing the water below. Beneath her stand four cherubs personifying Temperance, Health, Purity, and Peace. Stebbins was one of the first prominent female sculptors in America and was the first woman to receive a public art commission in New York City.

Stebbins designed this sculpture four years after Henry Ward Beecher’s Religion and the Beautiful. In this era of industrialization, an increasing middle class emerges who are uncertain how to handle their new surplus of wealth. Faced with the dilemma of materialism distracting you from god and an upbringing claiming that buying nice things for yourself is unchristian, Beecher offers a solution. Beauty is of the divine and there is no sin in elevating your environment. Infact because beauty is of god, surrounding yourself with exquisite things is bringing you closer to god. Beecher’s thinking is in the vein of liberal Protestantism, which offers a more positive outlook on religion. The world around you is not a threat but a gift. You and the world around you are a manifestation of god’s love on Earth.

Stebbins’ Angel of the Waters and the creation of Central Park is Beecher’s idea on a larger scale. Instead of a household, it is now a city spending for its own beautification. In 1853, the New York State Legislature set aside 750 acres in Manhattan to be used in the creation of America’s first major landscaped public park. The 1850’s were a time of prosperity for both New York City and the county. No longer a new nation struggling to get by, the US was now established economically. The city attitude was changed from scraping by to self-improvement, much like its budding new middle class. The establishment of an extensive public park would not only improve public health but would also serve the evolution of the city into a more civil society. The statue also coincides with liberal Protestantism and a more positive outlook. The angel is blessing the city’s water supply, therefore the people of NYC are receiving god’s love and attention. Also, the lily in the angel’s hand signifies purity; an important symbol to the city who suffered a devastating cholera epidemic before the water system was established in 1842. This symbol can be seen as god’s approval and the assurance of a brighter future. Overall, the statute carries a message of both divinity and positivity.

The Bethesda Fountain is one of New York City’s most beautiful landmarks and one of my personal favorites. Besides being visually breath-taking, the statute also offers a religious experience completely removed from a standard religious setting or organization. Appreciating a statute with religious connotations in the middle of a park is starkly different than, say, attending a church service. But both offer a valid connection to a faith. Just by enjoying the Bethesda Fountain and its reference to divinity I am being religious, without having to belong to any specific faith. This expands the meaning of what it is to be religious, but I believe in a more empowering way.