Orpheus Fountain
By Carl Milles
Category: Fountain
About
Milles created the Orpheus Fountain in 1936. According to Greek legend, Orpheus played the lyre so beautifully that stones and trees danced and wild beasts were tamed. He is most famous for visiting the underworld where he used his incomparable music to win the release of his bride Eurydice. In order to do so, he had to agree not to look back at her until they had reached the light of day. However, despite his promise to Hades, god of the underworld, Orpheus could not resist looking back and thus lost her again, this time forever.
Courtesy of the Missouri Botanical Garden.
Dimensions: 122″
Year Completed: 1936
Material: Bronze
Owner: Gateway Foundation
About the artist:
Carl Milles
1875-1955
Born near Uppsala, Sweden, Milles became an apprentice to a cabinetmaker and studied sculpture during evening classes. Milles won a scholarship to the Technical School in Stockholm. From Sweden he went to Paris where he attended The Sorbonne, and was eventually admitted to the 1899 Salon. Milles later worked in Auguste Rodin’s studio. Rodin strongly influenced Milles’ earlier work. In 1931 he held an exhibition at the Art Museum in St. Louis, showing 44 pieces, and later became the Artist in Residence at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. The Millesgården in Sweden then became his studio until his death in 1955.
