My book Emma and the Angel of Central Park. The Story of a New York Icon and the Woman who Created It is the first biography ever of Emma Stebbins, the first woman to receive a public art commission in New York City. Her iconic Bethesda Fountain with the Angel of the Waters will celebrate its 150 year anniversary on May 31st and my book comes out at the end of the month, to coincide with the anniversary.

Emma Stebbins was part of a group of American women sculptors who lived in Rome in the 19th century -- a group Henry James dubbed “the white marmorean flock.” She was born in New York City and was “married” to the actress Charlotte Cushman.

It is in Rome that she created the Angel of the Waters and Bethesda Fountain: it was meant to celebrate the clean pure waters in New York City and the wonders of Central Park for all New Yorkers. Women. Gays. Immigrants. A bridge between the U.S. and Italy. Environmental consciousness. Each of these is an integral part of the statue.

Emma Stebbins was very reserved and left few traces of herself. To reconstruct her life, I engaged in depth research between New York and Rome, managing to speak with two of Emma’s descendants. The result is also a portrait of the two cities and sheds light on the thread that linked progressive Americans and Italians of those years: the movement against slavery in the U.S. and the Risorgimento in Italy.

Emma and the Angel of Central Park. The Story of a New York Icon and the Woman who Created It. ISBN 978-1-59954-157-0. May 31, 2023. 238 pages, $20