Can't decide which direction my statues should face

DLM

Hey, I wanted to place statues on the stairs of the Grand Psijic Villa.



My first thought was to place them facing the water, that looked like a no brainer to me as you can picture someone on a boat watching these statues looking at the sea and basically guarding the place.

Then you're walking around the villa and the stairs and you realize that you are looking at a bunch of backs and bottoms, so in the end I turned them the other way around but I am still annoyed by the fact that I feel they should be looking at the water...



Anyone with some architectural understanding and history knowledge? Which direction should your statues face? The sea or the inland?

BlueRaven

Well it depends.

For pure aesthetics, having them face inland is the way to go. That reinforces a “decorative garden” type of environment.

If you are building a port, if the the villa receives many people from the water, for example, then having the statues face the water would be correct. Edit: This creates a sense of regency/power/importance of the location to the visitor. End edit.
In my travels in real life though, in the rare examples of statues facing the water, usually the statues are set back a short bit so people on land can still view them from the front, even if it’s a short walkway.

Either way. You have a great looking house there.

ghastley

The compromise is to have them face each other.

Jaimeh

I think for a day-to-day walking around your house, it would be nicer to have them facing inwards so you can look at them, but if you want to take a photo like the first one you posted from out in the sea, then it would look better if the statues faced outwards for that.

DLM

BlueRaven wrote: »

In my travels in real life though, in the rare examples of statues facing the water, usually the statues are set back a short bit so people on land can still view them from the front, even if it’s a short walkway.

That's what I am finally setting for. I already had a few more statues in the central area, facing the sea, but you can walk around and still see their front. So I'm leaving the ones on the stairs facing inwards, on the other hand I have placed a few more on the roof of the archway, facing the sea, since you can't walk up there.

Thanks guys for your input!

ghastley wrote: »

The compromise is to have them face each other.

Genius!