[Unveiled
1872]
1564-1616
b. Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire,
England
d. Stratford-upon-Avon, England Sculpted: 1870 Sculptor: John Quincy Adams Ward
1830-1910 USA
Gift from New York citizens led by
The Shakespeare Tricentennial Committee
Located in the heart of Central
Park's Literary Walk, right next
to the Olmsted Flower Bed stands the
bronze statue of William Shakespeare, the
renowned English playwright and poet.
The statue was place in the Park in 1872 to
honor the 300th anniversary Shakespeare's
birth in 1564.
Portrayed with one hand on his hip and the
other holding a small book, he appears
confident in his role as the greatest
dramatist of all time.
His timeless plays which were written
in the late 6th and early 17th centuries
for a small repertory theater, which he ran,
are still performed and read in ever
increasing frequency. Shakespeare in the Park is a program of
the
poet's plays that are performed under the
auspices of the Public Theater every
summer at the Delacorte Theater in
Central Park.