Ancient Goddesses in New York

About the Goddess Building at 100 Broadway

"The American Surety Company Building, at 100 Broadway, on the corner of Pine Street opposite Trinity Church, was built to the design of architect Bruce Price from 1894-1896. When erected, the 21-story, 312-foot neo-classical skyscraper with Beaux Arts influences was the second tallest building in New York behind the Manhattan Life Building, which is no longer standing. Clad in Maine granite, Price's design features a rich neo-Renaissance decorative scheme incorporating Greek elements like an Ionic entrance colonnade and classical sculptural figures, designed by J. Massey Rhind, at the third story. Credited with popularizing the tripartite column analogy for tall buildings, the American Surety Building set a model for tall buildings on corner sites on the 1890's and was a prototype for the freestanding tower skyscrapers of the early twentieth century. The American Surety Company Building was designated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1997."

-NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

About the Female Figures

"The American Surety Building (also known as the Bank of Tokyo Building) is at 100 Broadway in Manhattan, in New York City. The building's façade is designed to look like the front of a Classical Greek temple (similar to a lot of other architectural art in the United States of America), with an entablature supported by eight columns standing as tall as the real, full building's lowest two stories. The entablature forms the front part of the floor of the actual building's third level, and atop the entablature, standing as tall as this level's height, are eight women sculpted very much in the style of Ancient Greek statuary, each woman above one of the columns. Unlike the sculptures of maidens who form very regular repeating patterns in the so-called Porch of the Caryatids in the Erekhtheion [Erechtheum] on the Athenian Acropolis, and in the Forum of Augustus in Rome, certain of the women on the American Surety Building appear to possess unique attributes, implying to me that they represent something more specific than mere replicated ornamentation."

- Adinkra, from Mythology and Folklore, StackExchange.com

Sources

Adinkra, "Is It the Muses Depicted on the Façade of 100 Broadway, Manhattan?," Mythology & Folklore (Stack Exchange), accessed March 24, 2024, https://mythology.stackexchange.com/questions/10281/is-it-the-muses-depicted-on-the-fa%C3%A7ade-of-100-broadway-manhattan.

Geographic Guide to New Yor City Historic Buildings, "American Surety Building on Broadway - New York City," www.geographicguide.com, accessed March 24, 2024, http://www.geographicguide.com/united-states/nyc/antique/skyscrapers/american-surety/american-surety-building.htm.

Landmark Preservation Commission, "American Surety Company Building," NYC.gov, June 24, 1997, http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1934.pdf.

WikiArquitectura, "American Surety Building - Data, Photos & Plans," WikiArquitectura, accessed March 24, 2024, https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/building/american-surety-building/.

Wikimedia Commons, "American Surety Building, 100 Broadway, Manhattan, New York," accessed March 24, 2024, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_Surety_Building,_100_Broadway,_Manhattan,_New_York_(7237012426).jpg.

The Goddesses of 100 Broadway

Eight Grecian Goddess-like figures grace the outside of 100 Broadway. They look like they are sitting atop a temple and they are a striking sight. But truth be told, they all look a little serious or stern, or maybe a little sad.

Eight Goddesses, Flanked By Two Eagles

Photo: Laurie Sue Brockway/Goddess Communications

The American Surety Building is a historic skyscraper located at 100 Broadway, New York City, New York, opposite Trinity Church. It has been declared a landmark as one of Manhattan's most influential early skyscrapers.

All 8 Goddesses at 100 Broadway. The Landmarks Preservation Commission report explains: "The third-story windows above the portico are flanked by six classical figures designed by J. Massey Rhind. Two more figures, in the same style as Rhind's originals, were added in the expansion."