Atlas

New York City, United States

Freely accessible

Public space — no opening hours to check.

Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.

Atlas is a monumental bronze sculpture installed in 1937 in the courtyard of the International Building at Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan, across Fifth Avenue from St. Patrick's Cathedral. Created by sculptor Lee Lawrie with assistance from Rene Paul Chambellan and cast at the Roman Bronze Works in Corona, Queens, the 45-foot-tall Art Deco figure depicts the Titan Atlas bearing the celestial vault on his shoulders. The sculpture itself—the largest at Rockefeller Center—stands 15 feet in height and weighs 14,000 pounds. Atlas is rendered in a contrapposto pose, balanced on a single muscular leg atop a modest stone pedestal whose corner faces Fifth Avenue. The armillary sphere resting on his shoulders is precisely oriented so that its north–south axis aligns with the position of the North Star relative to New York City, merging classical mythology with astronomical precision in one of the era's most iconic public artworks.