The Wings 1908
Atop a tall column we find the sculpture The Wings, sometimes referred to as The Boy with the Eagle. The motif comes from a Greek myth; Zeus turned himself into an eagle in order to abduct the most beautiful of all the mortals, the Trojan prince Ganymede, with whom he was infatuated. Later, Ganymede worked as a cupbearer, or waiter, for the gods at Mount Olympus.
The sculpture The Wings is also to be found at the Skeppsholmen Bridge in front of the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.
Zeus is the highest ranking god in Greek mythology. The Romans called him Jupiter, which is also the name of the largest planet. Several moons orbit the planet, all named after figures that was important to Zeus/Jupiter. One of the moons is called Ganymede. The column that holds up the sculpture comes from King Gustav III's opera house in Stockholm that was demolished in 1891 and located on the site of the current opera house.