Anteros by cfulton

Photography • Urban/Cityscape • posted on Feb 23, 2012

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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.

Description

I have always thought that this statue was Eros at Piccadilly Circus - according to Wikipedia not so! At the southwestern side of the Circus, moved after World War II from its original position in the centre, stands the Shaftesbury Monument Memorial Fountain, erected in 1892-1893 to commemorate the philanthropic works of Lord Shaftesbury, who was a famous Victorian politician and philanthropist. The statue was the first 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 statue is generally believed to depict Eros but was intended to be an image of his twin brother, Anteros. 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 Italian, Angelo Colarossi (born 1875). Whatever his name, it is still a place the pigeons visit! Clive

Comments (14)

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2:07AM | Thu, 23 February 2012

Great image and find....:) And POV as well Wondering if the model is suppose to be the frivolous tyrant or the reflective and mature love....I don't see how a 16yr old is suppose to be model for mature love........I am going for the frivolous tyrant LOL:) Hugs Susan~