Giovanni da Verrazzano, by Ettore Ximenes

This essay is adapted from Chapter 3 of Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide. I’ve kept cross-references to other chapters in the book. Outdoor Monuments has been “translated” into a fabulous app that…

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“Be like the bird …” (Victor Hugo)

“The Bird,” by Victor Hugo Be like the bird, who Pausing in his flight On limb too slight Feels it give way beneath him Yet sings Knowing he has wings.…

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Wrought Iron in New York

One of the things I love about New York is the way protection, in the form of gates, window guards, fences, etc., has been made gorgeous. Here are some of…

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Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston: Five Favorites
Ralph Curtis, Return from the Lido, 18__. Gardner Museum, Boston. Image: Wikipedia

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston: Five Favorites

The  Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is a few blocks from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Isabella Stewart (b. 1840), daughter of a wealthy New York merchant, grew up in Manhattan…

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Hans Christian Andersen in Central Park

This post is adapted from the Guides Who Know app on Central Park. Artist: Georg John Lober Date: 1955 Medium & size: Bronze, over lifesize. Location: Central Park, on the…

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Saint Gaudens, The Puritan (Springfield, Mass.) – Part 3

This is the third in a series of posts on Saint Gaudens's Puritan, in Springfield, Massachusetts. Part 1 set out questions for you to consider when looking at the sculpture. Part 2…

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Kosciuszko Bridge Progress, 4

For earlier photos, see the Bridges tag in the Obsessions cloud at right. For a short time in the summer of 2017, the old and new Kosciuszko Bridges (1939 and…

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