Well of Life, Bronze fountain sculpture in Donji grad, Zagreb, Croatia
The Well of Life is a bronze sculpture of ten life-size nude figures, a child, a loving couple and an old man, crouching and twisting around a cylindrical basin of water. The smooth, rounded bodies have no sharp edges, and their dark metal contrasts with the pale stone platform beneath. The figures watch their reflections in the water.
The work was created by Ivan Meštrović in 1905 and first appeared at the Spring Exhibition of the Vienna Secession. It arrived in Zagreb for permanent display in 1912.
The figures show different human relationships and moments: couples embrace and communicate with each other, while an older person gazes into the water below. These scenes reflect how people at various life stages connect with one another.
The sculpture stands on Republic of Croatia Square, directly in front of the Croatian National Theatre, in Zagreb's Donji grad. It is an outdoor public monument reachable on foot from the surrounding streets and tram lines. Visitors can walk around the circular basin to see the figures from every side.
Meštrović wanted the Well of Life placed in Split, as he wrote to Ante Trumbić, but Izidor Kršnjavi bought it and brought it to Zagreb. In 1912 it was set in a walled cavity so that the naked figures would not shock the conservative public of the time.
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