Bågskytten Milles, Bronze sculpture in Djurgården, Sweden

Bågskytten is a sculpture by Carl Milles standing outside Liljevalchs konsthall on Södra Djurgården in Stockholm. A 12-metre granite column supports a stylised eagle of diabase, on whose back stands an athletic bronze man with a drawn bow, aiming at a distant target. The archer's torso is twisted half a turn relative to his lower body.

Carl Milles placed a smaller version of the archer at Waldemarsudde in 1913, in Ferdinand Boberg's exhibition hall. In 1914 he won a competition held by Eva Bonnier's donation committee with a proposal then titled Colonn. The work, renamed Bågskytten, was installed outside Liljevalchs konsthall on Djurgårdsvägen in May 1919; a sketch from 1 March 1916 is kept at Millesgården.

The archer represents the constellation Sagittarius, identified in Greek myth as Krotos, son of Pan and inventor of the bow. The eagle beneath him is the bird of Zeus and names the constellation Aquila; the eagle was one of Milles's favourite motifs.

The sculpture stands freely accessible in the park and can be viewed from various angles depending on your position along the surrounding paths. Approaching from the front provides the clearest view of the full composition.

The figure captures a moment of extreme physical tension, as if the arrow is about to be released. This sense of movement in such a monumental form becomes striking as you stand before it.