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~.Zoom in twice for details.~
Sooo... I found these random shots from last year's winter and thought I could make something out of them. It's strange how in winter everything seems to stand still, yet in the warmer months even these statues made of dead stone seem to be alive, hm.
Four out of 32 sculptures in the Garden of Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna. Here a small map of Schönbrunn's Great Paterre showing their positions: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia…
1) "Spring": Flora sculpted by Johann Wilhelm Beyer
Flora was the goddess of flowers and spring, who was first given a temple in 238 BC near the Circus Maximus. Celebrations (the floralia) were held there in her honor every spring from April 28th to May 3rd. She was married to Flavonius, the wind god, and her companion was Hercules. 
2) "Summer": Ceres Priestess sculpted by Joseph Baptist Hagenauer
Ceres was the Roman divinity who represented harvest and generative power of nature.
Associated with the earth goddess Tellus, Ceres was worshipped in Rome from ancient times. Her cult on Aventine Hill in Rome was her most famous. Her temple there was completed in 493 BC and soon became a center of plebian life. Following a funeral, mourners would offer sacrifices to Ceres as a way of purifying the home of the deceased.
3) "Fall": Maenad sculpted by Johann Wilhelm Beyer
Maenad were female followers of Dionysos, the most important members of the god's retinue. Through dancing and intoxication during celebratory rites, they were inspired by Dionysus into a state of ecstasy. 
During these rites, the maenad dressed in fawn skins and carried thyrsus, long sticks wrapped in ivy or vine leaves and tipped with pinecones. They weaved ivy-wreaths around their heads or wore bull helmets in honor of their god, often handling or wearing snakes.
4) "Winter": Paris sculpted by Veit Königer
Paris was the son of Priam, King of Troy and husband of Hecuba. He appears in several Greek legends and in Virgil's epic poem Aeneid. Sent by his father as an ambassador to Sparta, Paris fell in love and eloped with Helena, queen of Sparta 
... which caused the Trojan War. After the Spartans arrived in Troy, Menelaus, Helena's father, challenged Paris to a duel for her return. Paris was soundly beaten by Menelaus and was saved at the last minute by Aphrodite. Later Paris (who was a skilled archer), fatally wounded Achilles in the heel with an arrow that was guided by Apollo.
I hope you learned something new today! 
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Have a nice day and enjoy DA!
