Venus at "Fontaine du Soleil" - Nice, France
Posted by: 
wildwoodke
N 43° 41.838 E 007° 16.317
32T E 360751 N 4839704
Venus is one of five statues that surround Apollo. They are found at the base/within Fontaine du Soleil located in Place Masséna. The fountain has undergone an extensive reconstruction in the last 2 years (since 2011) in central Nice, France.
Waymark Code: WMGH29
Location: Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
Date Posted: 03/05/2013
Views: 12
The "Fountain of the Sun" or "Fontaine du Soleil" is located on the south side of Place Masséna. The founatin in its original form was inaugurated in 1956. On it are five bronze statues respresenting Earth, Mars, Mercury, Venus and Saturn that were sculpted by Alfred Janniot.
One of the statues that is found in the fountain is Venus, goddess of love and beauty.
On the Encyclopedia Mythica(TM) website, Venus is described on the website as:
”The Roman goddess of love and beauty, but originally a vegetation goddess and patroness of gardens and vineyards. Later, under Greek influence, she was equated with Aphrodite and assumed many of her aspects. Her cult originated from Ardea and Lavinium in Latium. The oldest temple known of Venus dates back to 293 BCE, and was inaugurated on August 18. Later, on this date the Vinalia Rustica was observed. A second festival, that of the Veneralia, was celebrated on April 1 in honor of Venus Verticordia, who later became the protector against vice. Her temple was built in 114 BCE. After the Roman defeat near Lake Trasum in 215 BCE, a temple was built on the Capitol for Venus Erycina. This temple was officially opened on April 23, and a festival, the Vinalia Priora, was instituted to celebrate the occasion.
Venus is the daughter of Jupiter, and some of her lovers include Mars and Vulcan, modeled on the affairs of Aphrodite. Venus' importance rose, and that of her cult, through the influence of several Roman political leaders. The dictator Sulla made her his patroness, and both Julius Caesar and the emperor Augustus named her the ancestor of their (Julian) family: the 'gens Julia' was Aeneas, son of Venus and the mortal Anchises. Ceasar introduced the cult of Venus Genetrix, the goddess of motherhood and marriage, and built a temple for her in 46 BCE. She was also honored in the temple of Mars Ultor. The last great temple of Venus was built by the emperor Hadrianus near the Colusseum in 135 CE.
Roman statues and portraits of Venus are usually identical to the Greek representations of Aphrodite.
”
By Micha F. Lindemans on the website at: http://www.pantheon.org/articles/v/venus.html