Polyphemus

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“Polyphème surprenant Galatée dans les bras d'Acis”
(Polyphemus Surprising Acis and Galatea) by Auguste Ottin, 1866
Fontaine Médicis (Medici Fountain)
Jardin du Luxembourg
Quartier de l'Odéon, 6th arrondissement
Paris, July 2005

“Since the fountain no longer stood against a wall, the Fontaine de Léda, displaced from another neighborhood, was placed directly behind it. (See the Fountain of Leda, below.) He replaced the two original statues of nymphs at the top of the statue with two new statues, representing the Rivers Rhone and Seine. He restored the coat of arms of the Medici family over the fountain, which had been defaced during the Revolution. He inserted two statues into the niches, one representing a faun and the other a huntress, above which are two masks, one representing comedy and the other tragedy. He removed the simple basin and water spout which had been in the niche and replaced them with a long tree-shaded basin. Finally, he removed the statue of Venus and replaced her with a group of statues by Auguste Ottin, representing the giant Polyphemus, in bronze, discovering the lovers Acis and Galatea, in white marble. That is the fountain as it appears today.” (Medici Fountain, Wikipedia)