[Unveiled 1945]
1351-1434
b. & d. Grodek, near Lwów, Galicia, Poland
[now Lviv, Ukraine]
Sculpted: 1939
Sculptor: Stanislaw Kazimierz Ostrowski
1879-1947
This striking equestrian statue of
King Wladyslaw Jagiello, a Polish-Lithuanian
hero of the 15th century is one of the most
intense statues in Central Park. With swords
crossed in military victory over the Teutonic
Knights at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410 he
rides his horse into some of the most beautiful
sunsets in New York City here at the east end
of Turtle Pond.
As grand duke of Lithuania and King of Poland,
he united the two states as the leading power
of Eastern Europe.
Originally built for the 1939 World's Fair, this
statue now reigns over Turtle Pond where
traditional Polish and Lithuanian folk dancing
is often performed before it at the plaza.
