A Warm Autumn Morning

From Wiki:

The two fountains in the Place de la Concorde have been the most famous of the fountains built during the time of Louis-Philippe, and came to symbolize the fountains in Paris. They were designed by Jacques Ignace Hittorff, a student of the Neoclassical designer Charles Percier at the École des Beaux-Arts. The German-born Hittorff had served as the official Architect of Festivals and Ceremonies for the deposed King, and had spent two years studying the architecture and fountains of Italy.

Hittorff’s two fountains were on the theme of rivers and seas, in part because of their proximity to the Ministry of Navy, and to the Seine. Their arrangement, on a north-south axis aligned with the Obelisk of Luxor and the Rue Royale, and the form of the fountains themselves, were influenced by the fountains of Rome, particularly Piazza Navona and the Piazza San Pietro, both of which had obelisks aligned with fountains.

Both fountains had the same form: a stone basin; six figures of tritons or naiads holding fish spouting water; six seated allegorical figures, their feet on the prows of ships, supporting the pedestal, of the circular vasque; four statues of different forms of genius in arts or crafts supporting the upper inverted upper vasque; whose water shot up and then cascaded down to the lower vasque and then the basin.

The north fountain was devoted to the Rivers, with allegorical figures representing the Rhone and the Rhine, the arts of the harvesting of flowers and fruits, harvesting and grape growing; and the geniuses of river navigation, industry, and agriculture.

The south fountain, closer to the Seine, represented the seas, with figures representing the Atlantic and the Mediterranean; harvesting coral; harvesting fish; collecting shellfish; collecting pearls; and the geniuses of astronomy, navigation and commerce.[3]

Place de la Concorde

Fair Lady

12 Comments CherryPie on Feb 6th 2013

12 Responses to “Place de la Concorde – South Fountain”

  1. Better than the ones we have in Trafalgar Square! ;)

  2. jamsodonnell says:

    You’ve captured the fountain very nicely

  3. rusty duck says:

    You were certainly lucky with the weather that day – they look wonderful against the blue sky!

  4. Lisl says:

    You have captured the details so sharply, Cherie – a beautiful set of pictures

  5. A very creative fountain, with the skoosh from one place up to another level. Why do I rush past things without pausing? Have been there but did not look enough.

  6. Claude says:

    Very interesting! Thank you for sharing.