This is undoubtedly the most famous fountain at Peterhof, although its fiercely propagandistic intent, exaggerated muscularity, and thinly disguised priapism direct the mind more towards Freudian analysis than Apollonian contemplation. Intended to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Russia's defeat of Sweden at Poltava--not coincidentally, the Swedish coat-of-arms bears the image of a lion--, the central Samson figure is the work of architect and sculptor Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli.

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