Ancient Goddesses in New York

An Online Guide to Discovering the Sacred Feminine in
Museums, Temples, and Public Places

About Goddesses that Come and Go

Now you see them, now you don't.

There have been many goddesses who have visited New York for museum exhibits or who lived in iconic outdoor statues and who have moved on to different pastures, some unknown.

Others have been returned to their culture of origin through repatriation of cultural heritage. We live in a time where more and more will be going home to their original communities and cultures.

We thank them all for blessing us for as long as they did.

Sources

Rhea Nayyar, "Brooklyn's 'Little Liberty' Is Leaving New York," Hyperallergic, May 17, 2023, https://hyperallergic.com/822604/brooklyn-little-liberty-is-leaving-new-york/.

The Met, "The World between Empires: Art and Identity in the Ancient Middle East (March 18 to June 23, 201p)," The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accessed March 25, 2024, https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2019/world-between-empires-art-and-identity-ancient-middle-east.

Captions

Elizabeth Kadetsky, "The Goddess Complex: A Set of Revered Stone Deities Was Stolen from a Temple in Northwestern India; Their Story Can Tell Us Much about Our Current Reckoning with Antiquities Trafficking," The American Scholar, March 2, 2023, https://theamericanscholar.org/the-goddess-complex/.

The Met, "Statuette of Standing Nude Goddess," The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accessed March 25, 2024, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/757625?exhibitionId=%7B89e75759-5dad-48f2-9f69-c138b8b7c037%7D&oid=757625&pkgids=567&pg=0&rpp=20&pos=24&ft=.

Wikimedia Commons, "6th Century Mother Goddess Matrika Murti, India," Wikimedia Commons, n.d., https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:6th_century_Mother_Goddess_Matrika_murti,_India.jpg.

Goddesses that Once Graced Museums or Adjacent Areas

Venus of the Gilded Age Estate

Photo: Smilly/Creative Commons-CC BY-SA 3.0

The Duke Residence Venus near The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It graced the outside of the Gilded Age mansion for many years. But when the giant gilded home went on sale again for $90 million, they must have moved the god and goddess greeters into storage.

Ancient Inanna, Ishtar, or Astarte

Patti McConville / Alamy Stock Photo

Statuette of a Nude Goddess. This iconic statue from 1st century BCE–1st century CE was featured in the 2019 exhibit at the Met, The World between Empires: Art and Identity in the Ancient Middle East. She has been referred to Astarte, Inanna, and Ishtar. She hails from Mesopotamia, and Babylon, and is made with Alabaster, stucco, gold, and rubies. Her permanent home is at Musée du Louvre, Paris. She may still be on loan and display at The Met, as she is listed on their website as a son display in Gallery 899.

Little Liberty of Brooklyn

Photo: Laurie Sue Brockway/Goddess Communications

Little Liberty in the Parking Lot of the Brooklyn Museum. She graced the back lot of the museum for 17 years. Standing 30 feet tall, she was Brooklyn's version of the Goddess of the NY Harbor. She was retired from her post and sent for repair and restoration at the National Building Arts Center (NBAC) on the edge of Sauget, Illinois, and St. Louis, Missouri. She was permanently retired and will be spruced up and "honored as a national symbol of freedom," according to Rhea Nayyar, writing on HYPERALLERGIC. Little Liberty is over 100 years old and was commissioned in 1902 by William H. Flattau as a topper for his Liberty Storage & Warehouse Company building in Manhattan, 14 years after the 305-foot-tall original Lady Liberty was installed.