On a brisk December afternoon, you find yourself
strolling through The Mall in Central Park. Beautiful trees on either side
create a pathway where street performers somersault and sing. A woman
approaches you and asks if she can draw your caricature. You politely refuse
and continue walking until you reach a grand staircase leading to a beautiful
fountain overlooking the boathouse. Sound familiar? Bethesda Fountain has often
been referred to as the center of Central Park, the focal point where tourists
gather, boyfriends propose to their girlfriends and the stressed New Yorker
takes a second to unwind.
This beautiful focal point is one of the largest
fountains in New York and the only sculpture to have been commissioned as part
of Central Parks original design. The sculpture is named Angel of the Waters and features an 8-foot bronze angel with 4
small cherubs standing underneath her, each representing health, purity,
temperance, and peace respectively. The angel holds a lily in one hand while
the other hand is held outward, delivering a blessing on the water that flows
out of the fountain.
Angel of the Waters, Central Park
Although Bethesda Fountain was created to celebrate
the completion of the Croton Aqueduct (1842), which provided all New Yorkers
with clean drinking water for the first time, the fountain is so much more than
a commemoration of clean water. The Angel
of the Waters references the biblical angel who “rendered the Pond of
Bethesda healing water such that ‘whosoever stepped in were made whole of
whatever disease he had’” (John 5:4) (Campbell 27). This passage originates from the
Gospel of John. The Bethesda pool was located in the heart of Jerusalem. According
to the passage, many impotent individuals waited for an angel to descend into
the pond and bless the water. Whoever stepped into the water first was made
whole of whatever disease he suffered from (John 5:4).
This fountain is not simply the center of Central
Park, but rather the spiritual center just as the Bethesda Pond was to
Jerusalem. The fountain was completed in 1873, a time in which the nation was
recovering from the Civil War and Industrialization was in full effect,
especially in the urban setting of New York City. Health conditions in the
nation were poor and the completion of the aqueduct meant better life
conditions for those living in the city. The tranquil, natural atmosphere of
Bethesda Fountain is meant to be a place where love and peace can flourish.
Although the water in the fountain may not actually be healing, it is healing
in another sense. It is healing because of what it represents, because of the
better life quality it brought to those living during that time. It is healing
because of the tranquility and awe it brings upon visitors.
I have passed this sculpture an innumerable amount
of times. Each time I have felt its presence, although I was ignorant to its
full meaning until now. I have sat on its edge and watched as others sat and
watched, each feeling something unspeakable. On this particular afternoon, as I
photographed the fountain for this blog post, a trio of young singers serenaded
visitors with Silent Night, adding a
little extra spirit to this spiritual center of love and peace.
Campbell, Lindsay K. Restorative Commons: Creating Health and Well-being through Urban Landscapes. Newtown Square, PA: USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, 2009. Print.
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