My photos were taken in June 2005. This griffin surmounted neo Classical/Gothic sandstone and granite drinking fountain is dedicated to Arethusa. An odd location, considering. I mean, you can't help but feel that someone was being cheeky. When the fountain was built in 1884, the water was dispensed through four carved dophins, emblematic of Arethusas's depiction in Syracusan coins of the period - circa 510 BC on. The water had been cut off, and the dolphins were removed after the fountain had fallen into long disrepair, in 1936. It is obvious that there has been extensive restoration work in recent years because, despite the over ornateness and pompery, it is nonetheless an intricate and commanding work for its size. I always enjoy seeing it on the way to or from the Art Gallery or the Botanic Gardens. It is a pity though, that the inside, long dissociated from water in fact and public memory, is empty and funereal. It has no actual function, it mourns the abscence of the elementary spirit, there is no reason to go up to it. The central column, without the dispensing dolphins, is an intrusion on the otherwise lively exterior. Very melancholy and anguished, in my view. Arethusa would not be happy. Let's make it a fountain again.
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| The tension is palpable. |
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