Visitors to Rockefeller Plaza will see a renewed holiday glow this year as the famous Prometheus statue — often billed as the fourth-most recognizable statue in the US and the most photographed artwork in New York City — has just emerged from an extensive regilding. The restoration, completed in time for the 2025 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony tonight (Dec. 3), returned the 18-foot, 8-ton bronze figure to its original brilliance using 23.75-karat gold leaf.
Hidden for weeks behind a massive dropcloth, Prometheus received what Marc Roussel, principal conservator on the project, described in The New York Times as “a lot of work” — and not merely a touch-up. The team from New York-based Roussel Art Conservation first stripped away the statue’s weathered coating, revealing the raw bronze beneath. They then brushed on a yellow-tinted epoxy primer that cures overnight. Only then did the delicate gilding begin: an astonishing 20,000 sheets of gold leaf, each just 0.0002 inches thick, applied meticulously by hand. Working section by section, gilders followed a subtle grid pattern to avoid a patchwork effect.
“You’re not just taking a leaf and putting it anywhere,” principal gilder Bill Gauthier explained to The Times.
After each panel was completed, the team gently buffed the surface with lamb’s-wool cloths dipped in ice water — an ancient technique that coaxes the whisper-thin sheets to adhere cleanly without tearing or dulling the finish. Amazingly, 20,000 sheets of gold leaf weigh less than a pound. At recent market prices, the gold value is approximately $60,000.
Prometheus has undergone several regildings during his 91-year tenure at Rockefeller Center, but the statue’s backstory is as fascinating as its modern upkeep. Created by sculptor Paul Manship and unveiled in 1934, the work depicts the Greek Titan who stole fire for humanity — a symbol that resonated with the Center’s guiding theme of “New Frontiers and the March of Civilization.” John D. Rockefeller Jr., reportedly dissatisfied with the original bronze patina, insisted on gilding to emphasize the figure’s dramatic motion.
The model who helped inspire that motion wasn’t an artist, dancer or actor, but a young New Rochelle lifeguard named Leonardo Nole. As reported by Talk of the Sound and recounted in Nole’s later writings, the 26-year-old was paid $1 an hour to hold a challenging, airborne pose for months — though he claimed he mostly worked with Manship’s assistants.
Encircled with zodiac signs and inscribed with the ancient Greek text “Prometheus, teacher in every art, brought fire to mankind,” the gilded Titan continues to embody human creativity, knowledge and aspiration.
According to nbc.com, Prometheus at Rockefeller Center is regarded as the fourth most recognizable statue in the United States after the Statue of Liberty, Lincoln Memorial and Mount Rushmore.
With his radiant new finish unveiled for the 2025 holiday season, Prometheus once again lights the way — both metaphorically and, now, more brilliantly — over Rockefeller Plaza’s iconic rink.
Credits: Close-up photo by Michael Slonecker, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Night shot by Nan Palmero from San Antonio, TX, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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