Restoration
King Jagiello Monument Conservation
Our conservation work on the bronze King Jagiello monument, located just east of Turtle Pond, focused on making necessary repairs to the statue’s internal mounting system and restoring the statue’s protective coating.
The bronze King Jagiello statue portrays Wladyslaw II Jagiello, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, who united Lithuania and Poland and became king after marrying the Queen of Poland in 1386. The statue was originally installed at the entrance to the Polish pavilion at the 1939 World’s Fair in Queens. Later that year, the Nazis invaded Poland, preventing the sculpture's return to its homeland. The exiled Polish government donated the monument to the City of New York, who placed it in Central Park in 1945. Its massive granite base was designed by Parks Department architect Aymar Embury II.
Statue of King Jagiello at Polish pavilion (The New York Public Library Digital Collections, 1935 - 1945)
The conservation of King Jagiello focused on its support structure, which attaches the monument to the granite base. As part of the project, we designed and installed a new stainless steel mounting system and restored of the statue’s patina and protective coating.
Workers move the statue for conservation work
Restoring the statue’s protective coating
