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Cast in Bronze in Greenpoint

Shadowed by a wastewater treatment plant, this corner of Greenpoint was once a bronze foundry so famous it is rumored to have been visited by President Theodore Roosevelt. The Roman Bronze Works specialized in the lost-wax casting technique, which allowed artists to produce masterfully detailed sculptures.

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Urban Archive

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Roman Bronze Works

Roman Bronze Works

The Roman Bronze Works was established by Riccardo Bertelli, who immigrated from Genoa to New York. He opened this foundry in 1899 as the first in the country to specialize in the lost-wax casting technique.

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275-289 Green Street

275-289 Green Street

Artists such as Frederic Remington, Charles M. Russell, Daniel Chester French, and countless others sought out the Roman Bronze Works as the premier destination to turn their sculptures to bronze.

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Continental Army Plaza

Continental Army Plaza

Henry M. Shady, the sculptor of this statue of George Washington at Valley Forge, turned small statuettes into the final full-scale bronze sculpture at the Roman Bronze Works. He worked on this piece from 1903 and 1906.

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275-289 Green Street

275-289 Green Street

The lost-wax casting technique involves pouring molten metal into a mold of a wax object. The wax is melted and allowed to escape, leaving a metal copy of the original figure. This technique is also called "Cire Perdue," literally translating to "lost wax."

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Louis C. Tiffany Furnaces

Louis C. Tiffany Furnaces

In 1928, the Roman Bronze Works moved into the former Tiffany factory in Corona, Queens. Unfortunately, a fire destroyed most of the company's archives in the 1920s.

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Rockefeller Center

Rockefeller Center

Paul Manship's "Prometheus" at Rockefeller Plaza was cast at the foundry from a full-size plaster figure. The sculpture was installed in 1934 and was gilded 3 years later, after much debate concerning its final finish.

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Sweden House

Sweden House

Another piece of the Rockefeller complex, "Atlas" by Lee Lawrie was also cast at Roman Bronze Works. To cast the Atlas and his globe, the original plaster sculpture was split into 69 pieces that, once cast, were welded into 12 larger sections that were assembled on site.

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275-289 Green Street

275-289 Green Street

The foundry officially closed in 1988, auctioning off original plaster works from many of the artists who worked with the Roman Bronze Works.

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