3661 x 5491 px | 31 x 46,5 cm | 12,2 x 18,3 inches | 300dpi
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At the south-western 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 monument is topped by Alfred Gilbert's winged nude statue of an archer, sometimes referred to (inaccurately) as The Angel of Christian Charity and popularly (also inaccurately) known as Eros after the mythical Greek God of Love. The statue has become a London icon: a graphical illustration of it is used as the symbol of the Evening Standard newspaper, and appears on its masthead. 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." 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.
