Do you know about the origin of the Bull of Wall Street? And do you know it was sculpted by an Italian artist? Another episode of “Nuova York, Hidden in Plain Sight”, tells the whole story.
“Charging Bull” a.k.a. “Bull of Wall Street” a.k.a. “Bowling Green Bull”, is a bronze sculpture standing on Broadway north of Bowling Green in the Financial District of Manhattan. The 7,100-pound (3,200 kg) bronze sculpture, standing 11 feet (3.4 m) tall and measuring 16 feet (4.9 m) long, depicts the symbol of financial optimism and prosperity. Charging Bull is a popular tourist destination that draws thousands of people a day.
The sculpture was created by Italian artist Arturo Di Modica, who had arrived in New York in 1973, in the wake of the 1987 Black Monday stock market crash. Late in the evening of Thursday, December 14, 1989, Di Modica arrived on Wall Street with Charging Bull on the back of a truck and illegally dropped the sculpture outside of the New York Stock Exchange Building. After being removed by the NYPD that day, Charging Bull was installed at Bowling Green on December 20, 1989. Despite initially having only a temporary permit to be located at Bowling Green, Charging Bull became a popular tourist attraction. Di Modica may have been influenced by a pair of huge metallic sculptures, a charging bull and a bear, placed in front of the Frankfurt, Germany Stock Exchange in 1985 as part of the 400th celebration of the exchange.
This episode of “Hidden in Plain Sight” is hosted by Chiara Basso from NYU. Brought to life by Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, “Nuova York: Hidden in Plain Sight” is on a mission to uncover and showcase the tangible traces of Italian presence in New York City, which boasts the largest Italian-American population in North America and ranks as the third-largest Italian population outside of Italy itself. Each episode of this series shines a spotlight on something special, be it a monument, a church, a store, a building, or even a street, answering those fundamental questions: when was it established, by whom, and why?
