The Horses of Helios
The sculpture in 2010
ArtistRudy Weller
Year1992 (1992)
TypeSculpture
MediumBronze
Subject
  • Aethon
  • Eos
  • Phlegon
  • Pyrois
LocationLondon, United Kingdom
Coordinates51°30′36″N 0°08′00″W / 51.509977°N 0.133413°W / 51.509977; -0.133413

The Horses of Helios, also known as The Four Bronze Horses of Helios,[1] is a bronze sculpture of four horses by Rudy Weller. It is one half of a commission installed in 1992 when the adjacent Criterion Theatre was refurbished. The other half, the Daughters of Helios or Three Graces, is a sculpture of three women leaping off the building six stories above.

The Horses of Helios comprises three bronze elements with dark patina: one pair of horses weighing approximately 4 tons, and two single horses. The four rearing horses appear to be bursting from the water of a fountain. It depicts Aethon, Eous, Phlegon, and Pyrois - the four horses of Helios, Greek god of the sun.[1]

The sculpture was installed in 1991 in a fountain under a canopy at the base of the building at 1 Jermyn Street, on the corner where Piccadilly meets Haymarket, near Piccadilly Circus in London.[2] The building is adjacent to the Criterion Theatre, and was installed when the theatre was refurbished.

The Daughters of Helios or Three Graces depicts the three Charites - Aglaea, Euphrosyne, and Thalia - who in some accounts are the daughters of Helios and the naiad Aegle. The three female figures are made from gold-leaf-covered aluminium. They are installed at roof level, as if leaping off the 6th floor of the building immediately above the horses below.

As of 2022, since at least December 2020, the sculpture is behind a security fence and the fountain is not operating.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 "The Horses of Helios – Haymarket/Piccadilly Circus, London, UK". Waymarking. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "From the Art: The Four Horses of Helios". ThirdWay. Hymns Ancient & Modern. 31 (9): 12. November 2008. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "The Four Bronze Horses of Helios (London)". Tripadvisor. Retrieved 16 October 2022. Dec 2020 Not sure if it's a COVID-19 thing but when I visited the horses were enclosed with a big barrier in front of them and the fountain was not working either.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Horses of Helios.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Three Graces by Rudy Weller.
External image
image icon Fig. 1. (pg. 84), An Ovid Reader: Selections from Seven Works (2014)


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