Postcard DE-13845806

The Deer Group - Actaceon (Detail) in Schwetzingen Palace Garden
Sculptor: Peter Anton von Verschaffelt

Opposite the castle, at the western apex of the circular garden, stands the deer group as the conclusion of the parterre. It depicts, in a symmetrical arrangement, two deer being attacked and brought down by dogs.
The group of figures is based on the legend of myth from Ovid: Actaeon, the son of the god Aristaeus and Autonoe, a daughter of Cadmus, once stumbled upon a grotto where Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, was bathing with her nymphs. As punishment for seeing the goddess naked, she transformed him into a deer, after which his own hounds tore him to pieces. . - Monica GPT-4

Photo: W. Johnson, 2021

The deer basin also picks up on the hunting motif, because hunting played a significant role in the summer residence of the Electoral Palatinate court. According to the then garden director Michael Zeyher, the following incident is said to have occurred in the castle garden during the time of Elector Carl Theodor. A massive stag was attacked by dogs at the spot where the deer group is now located.