Patience and Fortitude (New York Public Library lions)

Patience and Fortitude are the pair of marble lion sculptures that flank the main entrance of the New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Sculpted by Edward Clark Potter and carved by the Piccirilli Brothers, the lions were installed when the library opened in 1911. Mayor Fiorello La Guardia popularized their names in the 1930s during the Great Depression to symbolize qualities he said New Yorkers needed. The lions remain iconic fixtures of the library’s 42nd Street entrance and of Midtown Manhattan imagery.