Atlante Figure- Architectural Sculpture in the Brooklyn Museum Sculpture Garden, August 2007

Atlantes Figures, circa 1899
From the Hugh J. Chisolm residence, formerly at 813 5th Avenue Manhattan, unknown architect
Limestone

Accession # 65.130.1-.4

These four burly male figures once ornamented the town house built for Hugh J. Chisolm, a wealthy paper manufacturer, at 813 Fifth Avenue. One pair flanked the doorway, and the other two figures appeared to support the upper stories. The architectural term atlante– alluding to the mythical Atlas, who supported the sky on his shoulders– refers to the figure of a man used as a column. The house, which stood between Sixty-second and Sixty-third Streets, was demolished in 1961.

Text from the Brooklyn Museum label.