The statue of Eros was the first in the world to be cast in aluminium. The statue is generally believed to depict Eros but was intended to be an image of his twin brother, Anteros.

The sculptor Alfred Gilbert had already sculpted a statue of Anteros and, when commissioned for the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, chose to reproduce the same subject, who, as “The God of Selfless Love” was deemed to represent the philanthropic Earl of Shaftesbury suitably.