Shakespeare Statue

Reading that Shakespeare's birthday was celebrated yesterday on April 23 reminded me of this photo I have of the Shakespeare statue in Central Park. There is a pretty garden close to it but it is too early for much to be blossoming there. So in honor of Shakespeare's birthday (a day late!) I'm showing his statue. Here is some info about it from nycgovparks.org

This full-standing portrait of celebrated playwright and poet William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was made by John Quincy Adams Ward (1830-1910) and unveiled on Literary Walk on May 23, 1872. In 1864, coinciding with the tricentennial of Shakespeare's birth, a group of actors and theatrical managers, among them noted Shakepearean actor Edwin Booth, received permission from Central Park's Board of Commissioners to lay the cornerstone for a statue at the south end of the Mall between two elms. Nothing further was done until the end of the Civil War, and through a competition in 1866, Ward was selected as the sculptor.

Ward combined a classical pose with many details of Elizabethan dress, and he relied on numerous images of Shakespeare, especially a bust in Stratford. The sculpture was cast in Philadelphia in 1870, and due to delays in procuring and cutting the granite pedestal in Scotland, was unveiled on a temporary base in 1872.