Monday On The Record

Why are the statues painted green instead of the gold leave they use to be?

Posted by: Anonymous at October 9, 2006 3:34 PM

They're not painted. They look to be bronze or copper and weathered to their current color. I don't recall them ever being gold. Sure your not mixing it up with another monument?

Posted by: Anonymous at October 9, 2006 4:06 PM

They are not bronze or copper. I just saw them last week and it is definitely painted green. It use to be gold leaf. My husband remembers it because that is where he was sworned in as a US citizen.

Posted by: Anonymous at October 9, 2006 4:12 PM

http://www.prospectpark.org/dest/main.cfm?target=gran

"Grand Army Plaza provides the grandest of park entryways in New York City's answer to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Conceived as a memorial to the defenders of the Union in the Civil War, the elaborately carved Arch is also a base for a series of inspired BRONZE sculpture groupings that soar over the Plaza. On the ground, bold statues of historical figures including President John F. Kennedy, and the mythical tableau atop the famous Bailey Fountain surround the massive arch."

BRONZE oxides and turns green, no one painted the statues.

Have you ever wondered why bronze statues turn green?
http://www.cci-icc.gc.ca/publications/newsletters/news21/bronze_e.aspx

Posted by: Anonymous at October 9, 2006 4:59 PM