This, to those of you who are curious, is the fountain at Dupont Circle. I pass it whenever I go to work. Sometimes, when I get lost, I do laps around it. When I first got here I got lost a lot. I'm surprised I didn't wear down a path of footprints around the fountain.
The fountain has been in this spot since 1920. It is a memorial fountain for Samuel Francis Dupont an American Naval officer from 1803-1865. He served in the Mexican-American and Civil War. I always forget just how many wars were going on during this time in American history. It is always a jolt to the timeline in my head whenever I read of people who participated in multiple ones.
What I think is really neat about this fountain is that the three statues encircling the neck of the fountain are symbolic. On one side there is a toga draped woman with one foot on a porpoise. She represents the sea.
On another side there is a statue of a fine looking man whose toga seems to be flying away from his body. He is standing, legs spread, over a boat. He represents wind. His pose reminds me of that famous one of Marilyn Monroe in the white dress over the vent. Except, he's not trying to keep his windblown toga in place.
The third statue is a nearly nude woman with ridiculously long wavy hair. She represents the stars. If you look closely you will see a small star in her hair. I personally think she represents stars because if I were to pull a Pygmalion and wish the statue to life Herbal Essences would surely kidnap her and turn her in to one of their commercial stars. Her hair is that pretty and hair-flippy.
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