The sculptural composition of the Peace Fountain monument at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine combines symbolic allegories, figurative sculpture, spiritual realism and sacred geometry to honor the Divine Imagination. The southern plaque on the granite wall that surrounds the Peace Fountain describes the composition as follows:

“Peace Fountain celebrates the triumph of Good over Evil and sets before us the world’s opposing forces—violence and harmony, light and darkness, life and death—which God reconciles in his peace. When the fountain operates, four courses of water cascade down the Freedom Pedestal into a maelstrom evoking the primordial chaos of Earth. Foursquare around the base, Flames of Freedom rise in witness to the future. Ascending from the pool, the Freedom pedestal is shaped like the double-helix of DNA, the key molecule of life. Atop the pedestal, a giant crab reminds us of life’s origins in sea and struggle. Facing west, a somnolent moon reflects tranquilly from a joyous sun smiling to the east. The swirls encircling the heavenly bodies bespeak the large movements of the cosmos with which Earthly life is continuous.

“Nine giraffes—among the most peaceable of animals—nestle and prance about the center. One rests its head on the bosom of the winged archangel, Michael, described in the Bible as the leader of the heavenly host against the forces of Evil. St. Michael’s sword is vanquishing his chief opponent, Satan, whose decapitated figure plunges into the depths, his head dangling beneath the crab’s claw. Tucked away next to the sun, a lion and lamb relax together in the peace of Gods’ Kingdom, as foretold by the prophet Isaiah.”

At its unveiling on May 20th, 1985, the Peace Fountain was, and remains, dedicated to the “Creativity of the World’s Children,” in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the New York City Episcopal Diocese. Surrounding the monument is a collection of (120) sculptures, cast in bronze, and created by grade-school children. This Children’s Sculpture Garden, the first of its kind, is composed in part by the inner-ring of the “Animals of Freedom,” and is a public outreach for younger artists to sculpturally express the universal themes of Liberty, Freedom and Peaceful Creativity as high social goals published in permanent bronze.