The Bethesda Fountain, the gorgeous focal point of the Bethesda Terrace, is one of the largest fountains in New York, measuring twenty-six feet high by ninety-six feet wide.
It is one of the most well known fountains in the world, and the statue at its center was the only sculpture to have been commissioned as a part of Central Park’s original design.
This neoclassical sculpture, also known as Angel of the Waters, features an eight-foot bronze angel who stands above four small cherubim representing health, purity, temperance, and peace.Angel of the Waters was designed by Emma Stebbins in 1868 and dedicated in 1873, at which point Stebbins became the first woman to receive commission for a major work of art in the city of New York.
