Lexington, Kentucky: Fountain of Unclad Youth

Nice statue. Still in great shape. Definitely different. Nice park and area. Parking can be difficult.

Gratz Park, located just south of Transylvania University, has a fountain that was dedicated to the youth of Lexington by famed Kentucky novelist James Lane Allen (1849-1925). Allen was an author known for using local Kentucky dialects in his novels, and when he died in 1925 he left a large part of his estate to the city of Lexington. The city used some of the money to upgrade Gratz Park and had a fountain installed in Allen's honor.

A plaque in front of it states that it is "A fountain dedicated to youth." What's odd about this is that the boy and girl depicted with the fountain are nearly nude. The boy, who is showing the girl a sailboat, appears to be wearing a skimpy loin cloth, but the girl, who looks rather surprised, is nude from the waist up. It kind of makes you wonder what city leaders were thinking when the statues were approved. Maybe they were going for a classic Greek and Roman look, but it is a rather strange sculpture.