Bacchante Fountain Boston Public Library Courtyard

A fountain has graced the magnificent courtyard of the Boston Public Library since the building first opened in 1895. Designed by Charles McKim of the firm McKim Mead and White, he gave the Bacchante and Infant Faun statue to the library as the centerpiece fountain in the serene arcaded courtyard. After a storm of controversy over the nude statue, McKim withdrew the gift and gave the statue to the New York Metropolitan Museum who were only too glad to add it to their collection. The fountain was adapted without Frederick MacMonnies statue and remained that way for nearly a 100 years. A second cast of the work was made in the 1890s and given to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston from which the library had a bronze copy made to install it once more in the courtyard. A new design of the fountain jets and surrounding marble basin completed the restoration.