Moved after the Second World War from its original position in the centre of the circus, it was erected in 1892–93 to commemorate the philanthropic works of Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury,[2] the Victorian politician and philanthropist, and his achievement in replacing child labour with school education.

"[3] The statue has been called "London's most famous work of sculpture";[4] a graphical illustration of it is used as the symbol of the Evening Standard newspaper and appears on its masthead.

It was the first sculpture in the world to be cast in aluminium and is set on a bronze fountain, which itself inspired the marine motifs that Gilbert carved on the statue.

Gilbert commented on his reason for the statue, saying: As to the figure surmounting the whole if I must confess to a meaning or a raison d être for its being there I confess to have been actuated in its design by a desire to symbolise the work of Lord Shaftesbury the blindfolded Love sending forth indiscriminately yet with purpose his missile of kindness always with the swiftness the bird has from its wings never ceasing to breathe or reflect critically but ever soaring onwards regardless of its own peril and dangers.

However, the name never became widely known and the statue was thence referred to as Eros, the god of sensual love; inappropriate some said in relation to the Earl's commemoration, but hailed by others as an ironic representation of the more carnal side of the neighbourhood, into which Soho had developed.

During the restoration a set of plaster casts was unearthed in the basements of the Victoria and Albert Museum which revealed damage to the statue.