The Lions In Winter
The NYC Library Lions: Patience and Fortitude in Ice and Snow
Covered in snow or bathed in ice, the lions flanking the entrance to the New York City Library greet visitors with an austere beauty actually enhanced by winter weather.
As chronicled in Susan G. Larkins' book, Top Cats: The Life and Times of the New York Public Library Lions, the two stately lions have guarded the NYC Library since its opening in 1911. Known as Patience and Fortitude since the 1930s, the lions aptly demonstrate the characteristics of their names in NYC winters. Whether wearing blankets of snow or sheaths of ice, the marble lions stoically gaze upon the New York streets as they have since the William Howard Taft administration.
Over Presidents' Day weekend--in the heart of winter--I visited NYC and the lions. The lions are a touchstone for me whenever I visit NYC, but this was my first visit in winter. Never had I seen the lions in such breath-taking splendor. The remnants of a mid week snowstorm surrounded the library lions, covering the steps to the library and drifting onto the pedestal of each lion. Though the conscientious staff of the library had cleared the ice and snow from the center of the steps, lion lovers simply have to brave the slippery steps nearest the lions simply to touch them. Touching those ice cold marble lions is touching American icons and history. Unwilling to attempt to sit astride the lion as did the character in Charles Beaumont’s story The Vanishing American, I simply touched Fortitude—the north lion.
Gazing up at the lions, one is struck not only by their elegant beauty, but also the talents of their creators, sculptor Edward Clark Potter and the Picirilli brothers. Potter designed the lions and the Picirilli brothers carved them, according to the New York Public Library website. Though initially criticized by many, Potter and the Picirilli brothers' lions are now the pride of New Yorkers.
The lions stand watch over a building upon which the words “For the advancement of useful knowledge….dedicated to history, literature and the fine arts,” are carved in the portico. As a history teacher, perhaps it is the building’s purpose which draws me to Fifth Avenue and Forty-Second Street. Perhaps it is because the greatest collection of free information in the world is housed in the New York Public Library. Or, most probably, it is Patience and Fortitude-- the marble lions who so diligently stand guard over the library.
