Atlas, in traditional posture with the globe held on his back.
This public domain photo comes from American Scenes, a part of the Carl Van Vechten Photograph Collection in the Library of Congress. The subject is a statue of Atlas in traditional posture holding the world on his back. The statue is located in the plaza in front of Rockefeller Center in New York City.
This photo was shot by Carl Van Vechten and was gifted to the Library of Congress by the executor of his estate [Saul Mauriber]. It is therefore in the public domain. (It has been disputed that Saul Mauriber had the right to gift this collection. See: Carl Van Vechten Photographs (LOTs 12735 and 12736) | Rights and Restrictions Information. The Library of Congress contends that this collection remains within the public domain.)
138 kilobytes TIFF. Hosted at the Library of Congress.
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03.27.10
Though the angle of this picture is obviously common, it really add character to this statue. The angle makes the statue seem like it is larger than life. I love that the muscles are defined with out being over powering. It is obvious that this is a statue of a man, but I can not figure out what is around his left thigh. I am assuming that he is holding up some kind of sphere above his head. The building behind the statue is placed perfectly as a back drop. And I love that the sky still shows a little bit at the top of the picture. I would like to know what, if anything, is attached to this masculine statue. I also really like that this picture is in black and white. It adds definition to any photograph, and it really makes the statue pop from the picture. There is no guessing what this picture is all about. This reminds me of a statue set in my city, only the men a twelve feet tall and are pulling the ropes of a ship. It is one of my favorite places to walk in the city. I would love to see this statue in person.