Fontaine du Fellah

This statue of the Roman Antinoüs dressed as Osiris, found in Hadrian's villa in 1739, apparently was the model for the fountain

The Fontaine du Fellah, also known as the Egyptian Fountain, located at 52 rue de Sèvres in the

French Ministry of Culture.^[2]

History

The Fontaine du Fellah was one of fifteen fountains constructed by Napoleon to provide, from his

Luxembourg Garden and several other fountains. The sculptural decoration was by Pierre-Nicolas Beauvallet, who also worked on the decoration of the column in Place Vendôme

, and made busts of many revolutionary figures. The present statue is a copy made of Beauvalet's original by Jean-François Gechter.

The fountain was in working order until 2005, when it was shut down because of leakage into the nearby

Vaneau

Metro Station.

Description

The title refers to an Egyptian

Vatican Museum in Rome

.

The figure holds two amphorae, one in each hand. Water poured from the amphorae into the semicircular basin below, then through a bronze masqueron in the form of a lion's head. The top of the fountain is decorated with an eagle, signifying Napoleon's imperial rule.

Bibliography

Paris et ses fontaines, de la Renaissance à nos jours, texts assembled by Dominque Massounie, Pauline-Prevost-Marcilhacy and Daniel Rabreau, Délegation a l'action artistique de la Ville de Paris. from the Collection Paris et son Patrimoine, directed by Beatrice de Andia. Paris, 1995 - (
ISBN 9782905118806
)

Marie-Hélène Levadé et Hugues Marcouyeau, Les fontaines de Paris : l'eau pour le plaisir - Paris, 2008 - (
ISBN 9782915345056
)

Sources and citations

^ Marie-Hélène Levadé et Hugues Marcouyeau, Les fontaines de Paris : l'eau pour le plaisir
^ Base Mérimée: PA00088690, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French) Hôpital Laënnec
^ Katia Frey, L'enterprise napoléonienne, article in Paris et ses fontaines, p. 109.

48°50′55.32″N 02°19′16.32″E / 48.8487000°N 2.3212000°E / 48.8487000; 2.3212000

[1] Marie-Hélène Levadé et Hugues Marcouyeau, Les fontaines de Paris : l'eau pour le plaisir

[merimee-2] Base Mérimée: PA00088690, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French) Hôpital Laënnec

[3] Katia Frey, L'enterprise napoléonienne, article in Paris et ses fontaines, p. 109.

[2]