Peace Fountain
The symbolism of the Peace Fountain, both in its geometrical and structural arrangement, and in the composition of the formal sculptural language, is a representation of its monumental nature.
Moon Face
Sun Face
On a plaque that accompanies the monument, placed on the southern side of the surrounding granite wall, reads an inscription in raised bronze lettering that describes this composition:
"Peace Fountain celebrates the triumph of Good over Evil and sets before us the world’s opposing forces—violence and harmony, light and darkness, life and death—which God reconciles in his peace. When the fountain operates, four courses of water cascade down the Freedom Pedestal into a maelstrom evoking the primordial chaos of Earth. Foursquare around the base, Flames of Freedom rise in witness to the future. Ascending from the pool, the Freedom pedestal is shaped like the double-helix of DNA, the key molecule of life. Atop the pedestal, a giant crab reminds us of life’s origins in sea and struggle. Facing west, a somnolent moon reflects tranquilly from a joyous sun smiling to the east. The swirls encircling the heavenly bodies bespeak the large movements of the cosmos with which Earthly life is continuous.Nine giraffes—among the most peaceable of animals—nestle and prance about the center. One rests its head on the bosom of the winged archangel, Michael, described in the Bible as the leader of the heavenly host against the forces of Evil. St. Michael’s sword is vanquishing his chief opponent, Satan, whose decapitated figure plunges into the depths, his head dangling beneath the crab’s claw. Tucked away next to the sun, a lion and lamb relax together in the peace of Gods’ Kingdom, as foretold by the prophet Isaiah.”
In addition to the sculpted forms of the symbolic and narrative composition, the hidden geometry of the Peace Fountain’s structure contains layered meanings. The four Flames of Freedom are placed in the cardinal directions in alignment with the gridded streets of New York City. From the ground, the base of the Peace Fountain rises upwards in a sculpted double-helix of DNA. This double-helix movement is echoed through the curvature of the giraffes in the composition. Just above the base are two horizontal circles: the top and bottom of crab. Twenty-eight spines surround the top circle, representing upwardly-moving crab spine or solar rays. The moon facing west and the sun facing east are also geometric circles, upended and placed perpendicular to the two below. The nine giraffes circulate around the sun and moon; they are arranged, as mentioned, in a double-helix formation. The largest of these rests its head upon the bosom of St. Michael as they share a caressing gaze.
The alternating opposites of the figure create a harmonious rhythm of sculpture that implies the movement of life although arrested in a static moment of material representation. The ancient use of this pose is the first instance of the human figure being sculpted with a peaceful disposition. It is fitting for St. Michael’s posture to assume this historical arrangement; the dynamics of contrapposto additionally echo the upwardly-rising implications of the double-helix. The archangel’s wings extend contrapposto beyond the human figure—both physically and spiritually—and are representative, in this work, of a great spiritual balance.
St. Michael and the slain Satan are sculpted in an arrested moment of dual movement St. Michael’s left and right wings take diagonal positions, reflective of the contrapposto torque of the archangel’s towering body. His pose is purposefully elongated, as if the archangel with his sword in his left hand, is just lifting off of the ground for flight. Contrapposto is defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica as follows:
“Contrapposto, (Italian: “opposite”), in the visual arts, a sculptural scheme, originated by the ancient Greeks, in which the standing human figure is poised such that the weight rests on one leg (called the engaged leg), freeing the other leg, which is bent at the knee. With the weight shift, the hips, shoulders, and head tilt, suggesting relaxation with the subtle internal organic movement that denotes life.”
St. Michael, alongside nearly the entire composition, is moving upwards; the only element moving downwards is the falling body of Satan. In the light of God, all move upwards together; the right-side up elements of the Peace Fountain show this co-creation of unity. In contrast, when one falls, the fall is alone. The fall is another word for separation. Thus the fallen Satan falls alone as the sole upside-down, downwardly moving figure in the monumental composition.
