The new episode of “Hidden in Plain Sight,” the series by NYU Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, will make a not-so-obvious connection with Italian influences stand out. The protagonist is the Angel of the Waters of the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park, one of the most beloved monuments, and the only one commissioned and completely paid for by the Central Park administration.
Scenes from countless movies have been filmed at its feet. But very few people know that the Angel was born in Rome, Italy, and was made by a woman, artist Emma Stebbins, the first woman to receive a public art commission in New York City. She lived in the Italian capital between the 1850s and the 1870s in order to build the statue. She was also a true pioneer as an artist and as a woman who, together with her companion and actor Charlotte Cushman, defied prejudice and social conventions, living openly as a “married” gay couple in the 19th century, around 150 years before it became legal in the United states. Some believe that the Angel is a tribute by Stebbins to Cushman.
Stebbins’ story is the subject of the latest book by Maria Teresa Cometto, an Italian journalist for Corriere della Sera who is based in New York. Emma and the Angel of Central Park: The Story of a New York Icon and the Woman Who Created It (Bordighera Press, 2023) recounts how the statue was created and why it is a symbol of love, harmony, healing, and rebirth.
Cometto herself will host her book presentation on Monday, May 20, at 6:30pm at NYU, together with independent scholar, historian and journalist Eve M. Kahn from the New York chapter of the Victorian Society.
The event will also be streamed live on Casa Zerilli-Marimò’s social media platforms. To attend the event in person registration is highly recommended. Here.
