A sculpture of Flora stands on the south side of the eastern parterre. While weaving a garland of flowers with Cupid, she seems to welcome Diana, the goddess of the hunt, returning from the park to the palace.
Flora’s sculpture decorated Užutrakis Park until World War II. It was a replica of the white marble sculpture of Flora, goddess of spring, patroness of plants and gardens, by sculptor Antoine Coysevox, which stood in the Tuileries Park in Paris.
The fate of Flora of Užutrakis is unknown: most likely, the sculpture was broken, like many sculptures in the park. Its former presence was revealed when a Kaunas resident gave a photograph to the park administration. The photograph showed the resident and a friend posed with the impressive original sculpture of Flora. With this photograph, it was possible to find the original preserved in the Louvre and to discover the artist and the history of the statue.
The original was also not spared by time, as the marble “melted” considerably, turning gray, and the sculpture lost some fragments. After studying a great deal of literature, the sculptors Nerijus and Rūta Kavaliauskai created a fairly accurate copy, while also recreating the antique scene depicted on the parterre of the Užutrakis Palace.
In front of Flora, the nymph Hamadryade occupied an honorable place. In Greek mythology, hamadryads are dryad nymphs who live in trees, give birth and die together with the tree. Therefore, the gods would punish any mortals who harmed trees.
