Wladyslaw II Jagiello - New York City, New York, USA
N 40° 46.735 W 073° 58.002
18T E 587192 N 4514728
This statue of King Wladyslaw Jagiello is located in Central Park in New York City, New York, USA. The statue depicts the King with the two swords handed to him by his adversaries, the Teutonic Knights of the Cross, crossed over his head.
Waymark Code: WMV4E9
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 02/21/2017
Views: 24
The inscription on the statue's base reads:
King Jagiello
Wladyslaw Jagiello
King of Poland
Grand Duke of Lithuania
1386 - 1484
Founder of a Free Union of the
Peoples of East Central Europe
Victor Over the Teutonic
Aggressors at Grunwald
July 15, 1410
"The King Jagiello Monument is an equestrian monument of Wladyslaw II Jagiello, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, located in Central Park, New York City. The monument commemorates the Battle of Grunwald, a decisive defeat of the Teutonic Order in 1410. Originally made for the Polish 1939 New York World's Fair pavilion, the monument was permanently installed in Central Park in 1945. Raised on its grand plinth it is one of the most prominently-sited and impressive of twenty-nine sculptures located in the park.
Description
The monument is sited overlooking the east end of the Turtle Pond, across from Belvedere Castle and just south-east from the Great Lawn. To the northeast is Cleopatra's Needle and beyond, the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The monument commemorates the Battle of Grunwald (1410), where Polish and Lithuanian knights supported by Ruthenian, Czech, and Tatar knights defeated the Teutonic Order. King Wladyslaw II Jagiello is shown seated on a horse holding two crossed swords over his head as a symbol of defiance and of the union of Polish–Lithuanian forces. Known as the Grunwald Swords, they were the invitation to battle offered to the king and his ally Vytautas the Great in an ironic gesture by Ulrich von Jungingen, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. Parks Chief Consulting Architect Aymar Embury II (1880–1966) designed the granite pedestal. POLAND is inscribed on both sides of the plinth. Ostrowski's name is engraved in the front lower right-hand corner."
--Wikipedia
"This larger-than-life bronze equestrian statue depicts King Wladyslaw Jagiello, the Grand Duke of Lithuania who united Lithuania and Poland after marrying the Queen of Poland and becoming king. Polish sculptor Stanislaw Ostrowski (1879–1947) created the sculpture, and Parks Chief Consulting Architect Aymar Embury II (1880–1966) designed the granite pedestal. The monument depicts King Jagiello leading Lithuanian and Polish troops in battle holding two swords crossed over his head, symbolizing the union of the two forces. Jagiello’s cape features the heraldic emblems of both Lithuania and Poland.
The statue was originally featured at the entrance to the Polish pavilion at the World’s Fair of 1939–40 in Queens’ Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. After Poland was invaded following the beginning of World War II in 1939, the statue was removed to storage. In 1945 the Polish government in exile donated the monument to the City and it was rededicated at its current location overlooking Central Park’s Turtle Pond. In 1986 the monument was conserved by the Central Park Conservancy."
--New York City Department of Parks and Recreation