Emma Stebbins
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Emma Stebbins (1815-1882) was an American sculptor who created one of New York City's most beloved public artworks: the Angel of the Waters fountain in Central Park's Bethesda Terrace. Born into a wealthy New York family, she moved to Rome in 1857 to study sculpture, joining a circle of expatriate women artists that included Harriet Hosmer and Edmonia Lewis.
The Bethesda Fountain commission, completed in 1873, made Stebbins the first woman to receive a major public art commission in New York City. The bronze angel commemorates the opening of the Croton Aqueduct, which brought clean water to Manhattan. Stebbins was also the partner of actress Charlotte Cushman, one of the most famous women in 19th-century America.
Sculptures by Emma Stebbins
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About Emma Stebbins
The Angel of the Waters (1873) atop the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park, New York. It commemorates the opening of the Croton Aqueduct and made Stebbins the first woman to receive a major public art commission in the city.
Stebbins spent most of her career in Rome, Italy, where she joined a community of expatriate women sculptors. She was part of what Henry James called the 'white marmorean flock,' alongside Harriet Hosmer and Edmonia Lewis.
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