Venus

Sculptor: Francisco Labrador, signed
Design: Josep Fontseré
Materials: White marble

In the rounded pediment it is depicted in high relief, the figure of Venus leaning indolently on a grotesque fish, accompanied by five putti with different shells and conches.

The scene is a common decorative theme, the representation of the goddess of love accompanied by an indefinite number of putti. Marine elements, very unusual in a representation of Venus, are explained by the iconológico laxity of the whole, as the link between all the figures is the liquid element Aurora--less, so it is not strange this reinterpretation in "marina" key decorative theme of Venus. In addition, the two putti located on the side doors also carry marine elements-shell and dofí- in an attempt to relate the different parts of the whole.

Longchamp Palace in Marseille, which inspired Fontseré also find the figure of Venus followed by a group of putti, in a very similar to that made by Francisco Labrador position and in the same location in Barcelona, ​​on the core set. Although the frieze of Marseille is a bas-relief and that no marine element appears, filiation design Fontseré eardrum waterfall seems obvious to find, once again, in the whole of Henri Espérandieu.