Tuesday, October 27, 2026 – SPOT AUTUMNAL SYMBOLS IN CENTRAL PART ARTWORKS

By admin

The original meaning of the spooky witch and owl sculptures at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2026


EPHEMERAL NEW YORK

Issue # 1772

Birds, rose petals, seasonal foliage—there’s just so much richly detailed loveliness carved into the staircases leading to Central Park’s Bethesda Fountain.

But amid these whimsical carvings are some creepier reliefs of a witch riding a broomstick, a jack o’ lantern, a bat, an owl, and other figures representing the dark side.

You might think these sculptures were intentionally meant to represent Halloween.

In the early 1860s, when Bethesda Fountain was undergoing construction, Halloween was transforming from a harvest holiday inspired by ancient folklore to the spooky celebration of ghosts and goblins we revel in every October.

Actually, the creepy carvings were designed to be emblems of nighttime.

“The decorative elements for Bethesda Terrace itself were designed by English-born architect Jacob Wrey Mould,” explains Centralparkny.com.

“Reasserting the primacy of nature, Mould chose representative wildlife and seasonal design motifs,” the site continued.

“There are also carvings symbolic of day: a rising sun, a crowing cock. Night is represented by a lamp and book, a bat and owl, and a witch flying over a Jack-O-Lantern.”

Central Park holds no official Halloween celebration, to my knowledge—though park officials did hold a roller skating Halloween festival in 1936, which I’d lobby to bring back.

But if you’re not the costume party type, consider celebrating spooky season this weekend by paying your respects to these 1860s reliefs—and the designer who used his talent and imagination to create them.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

From this weekend
General Electric Building on Lexington Ave.

Andy Sparberg and Nina Lublin got it right

Judith Berdy

CREDIT

Tags: Art in Central Park Sculpture, Bethesda Fountain Central Park Carvings, Bethesda Fountain Stairs Carvings, Bethesda Fountain Witch Owl Bat Sculptures, Halloween in Central Park, Jacob Wrey Mould Bethesda Fountain Reliefs
Posted in art, central park, Holiday traditions |

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