The Great God Pan

Columbia University’s Morningside Heights campus is recognized as one of the great urban public spaces in America. The beautiful McKim, Mead and White designed campus has played host to a significant number of both architectural and sculptural works. Many of the sculptures have suffered varying degrees of deterioration as a result of the inevitable corrosion factors that come with placement in an urban setting, especially one in the Northeast prone to unfavorable weather conditions, with some faring better owing to their construction or to earlier conservation treatments.

In 2019, EverGreene was contracted to do a complete condition survey and treatment report for a group of twenty individual sculptures, as well as perform conservation maintenance on several of the works, including the bronze sculpture Great God Pan. The work was made by George Gray Barnard and cast by the Henry-Bonnard Bronze Co in the mid-1890s as a commission for the Clark Family. They intended to display it at the Dakota apartment building on 72nd street and Central Park West, though it never resided there. The sculpture was donated to the Columbia University and was installed in the northeast corner of campus as a part of McKim’s campus plan in 1907, though it currently resides on the lawn facing Lewisohn Hall.

In 2024, EverGreene returned to the campus to reassess the current state of Great God Pan and perform necessary conservation maintenance treatments including cleaning of the bronze statue, stone and bronze pedestal, and stone base; treatment of the stone elements with a biocide to eliminate bio-growth; and re-patination and application of a protective wax on the bronze elements. A treatment report was completed along with maintenance recommendations for all elements.