Image:DianaAndPomona.jpg
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Images of the Goddesses Pomona (left) and Diana (right) together decorate the entrance to The Peninsula Hotel, occupying a Beaux-Arts building (originally The Gotham hotel, Hiss and Weekes, architects) at Fifth Ave. and 55th St., New York City. Here, Pomona (Goddess of Orchards) carries a cornucopia; in other images she is represented carrying a platter of fruit. Diana, as Goddess of the Hunt, carries her usual bow and arrows
In the context of commercial buildings of the late 19th and early 20th century these decorations may be thought of as symbols representing respectively agriculture and commerce, for agriculture formed the foundation for much of the wealth of the time and commerce (and industry) is a perpetual hunt for profits and advantage.
The Gotham was one of the first hotels in New York to use steel-frame construction and was for a short time time the city's tallest skyscraper.
The entire façade appeared to have been recently cleaned and so the sculptures were doubly beautiful.
Of special note (and characteristic of Beaux Arts) is the naturalism of the images; note that Diana is resting her hand upon the more formal building decorations - in much the same way as would a person sitting at that location. Rather than being a mere decoration, the images are characteristically sculptural in their representation of life. The clinging draperies of the figures can also be seen in classic Greek sculptures such as the Elgin marbles removed from the Parthenon, but here are rendered in a more abstract and less detailed manner, which may be considered to be more suitable to the scale and viewpoint and hence more modern than the classic sculptural prototypes.
Image taken August 2002 by User:Leonard G.
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| Date/Time | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| current | 00:01, 13 December 2004 | 714×395 (82 KB) | Leonard G. (Talk | contribs) | (Images of Goddesses Diana and Pomona together decorate the entrance to ''The Penninsula'', a building in New York City. Image by User:Leonard G. {{cc-sa}}) |
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