Awe & Wonder

I spent my childhood in awe and wonder of the fantastic Fountain in the fantastic local (Sefton Park) in Liverpool. When I was older, I realised it was a copy of the centrepiece at London's iconic Piccaddily Circus. This post contains my original photos of the copy of the Fountain recently renovated with a new Aluminium Anteros figure along with a detailed description from wiki about it's interesting history.

The History & Mythology of Anteros

In Greek mythology, Anteros (Ancient Greek: Ἀντέρως, Antérōs) was the god of requited love, literally "love returned" or "counter-love" and also the punisher of those who scorn love and the advances of others, or the avenger of unrequited love.

Anteros was the son of Ares and Aphrodite in Greek mythology, given as a playmate to his brother Eros, who was lonely – the rationale being that love must be answered if it is to prosper. Alternatively, he was said to have arisen from the mutual love between Poseidon and Nerites.[1] Physically, he is depicted as similar to Eros in every way, but with long hair and plumed butterfly wings. He has been described also as armed with either a golden club or arrows of lead.

Anteros, with Eros, was one of a host of winged love gods called Erotes, the ever-youthful winged gods of love, usually depicted as winged boys in the company of Aphrodite or her attendant goddesses. text source = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anteros

The Original Memorial Fountain

The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain is located at the southeastern side of Piccadilly Circus in London, United Kingdom. Moved after World War II from its original position in the centre, it was erected in 1892–1893 to commemorate the philanthropic works of Lord Shaftesbury, who was a famous Victorian politician and philanthropist.

The monument is surmounted by Alfred Gilbert's winged nude statue generally, though mistakenly, known as Eros. This has been called "London's most famous work of sculpture";[1] a graphical illustration of it is used as the symbol of the Evening Standard newspaper and appears on its masthead. It was the first sculpture in the world to be cast in aluminium and is set on a bronze fountain, which itself inspired the marine motifs that Gilbert carved on the statue.

The use of a nude figure on a public monument was controversial at the time of its construction, but it was generally well received by the public. The Magazine of Art described it as "...a striking contrast to the dull ugliness of the generality of our street sculpture, ... a work which, while beautifying one of our hitherto desolate open spaces, should do much towards the elevation of public taste in the direction of decorative sculpture, and serve freedom for the metropolis from any further additions of the old order of monumental monstrosities."[citation needed]

Although the statue is generally known as Eros, it was created as an image of his brother, Anteros.[2] The sculptor Alfred Gilbert had already sculpted a statue of Anteros and, when commissioned for the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, chose to reproduce the same subject, who, as "The God of Selfless Love" was deemed to represent the philanthropic 7th Earl of Shaftesbury suitably. Gilbert described Anteros as portraying "reflective and mature love, as opposed to Eros or Cupid, the frivolous tyrant." The model for the sculpture was Gilbert's studio assistant, a 16-year-old Anglo-Italian, Angelo Colarossi (born 1875 in Shepherd's Bush).[3] Fernando Meacci was involved in the moulding of the fountain[4] and it was probably cast by George Broad & Son.[5] text source = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaftesbury_Memorial_Fountain

all images copyright Christos Hatjoullis (Outerground)