Did You Know? The Pierre Hotel New York

The Pierre Hotel New York opened in 1930 at a prime site at the corner of Fifth Avenue at 61st Street, commanding unrestricted views of Central Park. Many consider the signature room of this iconic hotel to be the rotunda. The Rotunda's famous tromp l'oeil murals were created in 1967 by American artist Edward Melcarth (1914 -1973). It was his intention to bring the style and spirit of the Renaissance paintings into the present.

In the mural scenes, classic mythological figures like Neptune and Venus are intermingled with a woman with young children who resembles Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, as well as a man in a Nehru jacket, a clothing style popular in the 1960s. Other mythological figures, such as the River Gods and Minerva, share space with a young Adam & Eve (Adam was posed for by actor Erik Estrada in his younger days) and the painter's cat, Sasha. Several of the figures were modeled on people from New York society and some of the artist's patrons and benefactors. Melcarth also sculpted the male and female heads above the entrances to The Rotunda and the restaurant.

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