In a quiet corner of Paris’s 17th district, where Rue Boulay meets Passage du Petit-Cerf, two sculptures discreetly support the balconies of modern buildings. But they are not mere architectural decorations: they depict one of the most brutal and fascinating stories in Greek mythology. Embedded as caryatids on the façades, Actaeon transformed into a stag and Diana at her bath face each other in a silent duel, turning this forgotten corner into a visual retelling of a classic passage from Book III of Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
According to legend, Actaeon, a young hunter, ventures into the woods with his pack of hounds. Unknowingly, he stumbles upon the goddess Diana (Artemis), patron of the hunt and chastity, as she bathes. Outraged by being seen nude, she splashes him with water and transforms him into a stag. Moments later, his own dogs—no longer recognizing their master—tear him apart. This cruel and sensual tale has inspired artists for centuries, and here it’s reimagined in an urban sculptural form.
The sculptures, created in 1987 by artist Philippe Rebuffet and inspired by the name of the street (“Passage du Petit-Cerf,” or “Passage of the Little Stag”), embody this myth. Actaeon is portrayed with a human body and a stag’s head, set against a backdrop of sharp, geometric forms that echo Cubism. Across the street, Diana appears nude, framed by swirling floral motifs that seem to float like blossoms or foam, in a style reminiscent of Art Nouveau. Together, the two figures face each other eternally, frozen in the moment where the forbidden gaze meets divine retribution.
These caryatids don’t merely decorate—they narrate. They bring life to a quiet Parisian corner, infusing it with a story that is tragic, poetic, and timeless. And they do so in silence, supporting balconies while lifting the imaginations of those who pass by and pause to look. Because in Paris, even the most unassuming corners may hide legends carved in stone.