@ossobuco,
Actually, the statue there isn't Eros at all, just named so by Londoners because it has a bow. It also faces the wrong way.
Originally, it was supposed to be just a fountain paid for by public money in memory of the seventh Earl of Shaftsbury, after whom Shaftsbury Avenue is named. He was one of London's great philanthropists, who spent most of his life and fortune trying to clothe, feed and educate the poor.
When the money had been raised, someone had the bright idea of putting a statue on top. The statue was designed by Alfred Gilbert and portrays the angel of Christian charity, but the bow made everyone think that it was the god of love, Eros.
The statue was designed to aim its arrow up Shaftsbury Avenue and although it has faced in a number of different directions over the years, it has never, ever faced the right way, and nobody knows why.
When the fountain was first put into action in 1893, the basin was found to be too small and the force of water too great. Passers by were soaked and the fountain had to be redesigned almost immediately.
Alfred Gilbert was a bit of a bohemian eccentric. He argued about every stage of the work and hated the final result. He recommended that the whole thing be melted down, made into coins which should be given to the poor.
For a whie, the area around "Eros" became an unofficial market place where flower girls sold their wares. They were never removed and were in fact much loved, but after the war, for reasons no one has ever fathomed, they never returned and the statue is now simply a place where tourists have their photo taken.
