Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain

The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain stands in Piccadilly Circus, at the south-eastern corner of the roundabout. A bronze statue of Anteros, the winged god of unselfish love, rises from a tiered fountain of bronze and marble. The monument was moved after the Second World War from the centre of the circus to its present position. It overlooks the south-west end of Shaftesbury Avenue, named for the Earl whose philanthropy it honours. The statue itself is cast in aluminium, a novelty when it was made in the 1890s. Its creator, Alfred Gilbert, chose Anteros rather than Eros to reflect the Earl’s lifelong work for children. The fountain commemorates Anthony Ashley Cooper, the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. A public meeting at the Mansion House launched a fund soon after his death in 1885. The committee proposed both a memorial statue and a home for poor children, later known as the Shaftesbury Homes. Gilbert’s design was controversial for its nude figure, yet praised for raising public taste in street sculpture. The unveiling in 1893 drew complaints that the statue was too worldly for a sober philanthropist, but it soon became London’s most famous work of sculpture. Visitors find the bronze Anteros standing on a sculpted fountain, his bow drawn but aimed kindly. The figure’s wings and drapery catch the light above the busy circus. Below, the fountain’s marine motifs echo the marine themes Gilbert carved into the pedestal. The memorial has been removed twice for tube works and wartime safety, returning each time to its place. In winter, giant snow globes or Christmas boxes have enclosed the statue for protection and festive display.