Piccadilly Circus
WAG 8997
Information
This print is said to have been made in 1915 during the First World War. It depicts the London night scene in the winter of 1914-15. Protective hoods have been placed over the street lamps to cast the light downwards in accordance with wartime regulations.
The statue on top of of the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain created by Sir Albert Gilbert (1854 - 1934) is sometimes mistaken as Eros, the Greek God of sexual attraction. It is in fact a statue of Eros' brother Anteros, whose name means 'requited love' or 'returned love'. The image of the statue appears on the front page of the London Evening Standard newspaper.