Fountains

Fontaines de la Concorde

Jacques Ignace Hittorff Paris

The Fontaines de la Concorde are two monumental fountains located in the Place de la Concorde in the center of Paris. Designed by Jacques Ignace Hittorff, they were completed in 1840 during the reign of King Louis-Philippe. The southern fountain commemorates the maritime commerce and industry of France, while the northern fountain commemorates navigation and commerce on the rivers of France.

The history of the square helps explain the fountains’ setting and themes. Before the French Revolution, the area was known as Place Louis XV, and architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel had once planned a monumental statue of Louis XV with two fountains there, though the project was not carried out because of a lack of sufficient water. Later, the completion of the Canal de l’Ourcq in 1824 made new fountains possible. Hittorff had entered a competition for the square in 1829, and after the July Revolution of 1830 he was chosen by Louis-Philippe to design a setting for the Luxor obelisk.

Map showing the location of Fontaines de la Concorde in Paris
Location of Fontaines de la Concorde in Paris

Nearby Objects

Design and Meaning of the Fountains

The fontaines de la Concorde are two monumental fountains located in the Place de la Concorde in the center of Paris. They were designed by Jacques Ignace Hittorff and completed in 1840 during the reign of King Louis-Philippe. The south fountain commemorates the maritime commerce and industry of France, while the north fountain commemorates navigation and commerce on the rivers of France.

From Place Louis XV to Place de la Concorde

Before the French Revolution, the square was called Place Louis XV from 1753 to 1772. At that time, architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel designed a plan for a monumental statue of Louis XV with two fountains at Place Louis XV, but this plan was never carried out because there was not enough water. Gabriel also completed the building of the Ministry of the Navy overlooking the square, and its presence later influenced the choice of theme for the Fontaines de la Concorde. During the French Revolution, the square was renamed Place de la Revolution, and the guillotine was placed there. King Louis XVI and thousands of others were beheaded near the site of the present fountains. In 1795, the square became Place de la Concorde, and after the restoration of the Monarchy in 1816, it was renamed in the Memory of King Louis XVI. The completion of the Canal de l'Ourcq in 1824 finally made it possible to build new fountains in Place de la Concorde.

The Redesign of Place de la Concorde

In 1829, under King Charles X, the city sponsored a competition for a new plan for Place de la Concorde. Jacques Ignace Hittorff was among the entrants, and his proposal included four fountains arranged in the four quadrants around an equestrian statue of Louis XVI. Hittorff had already designed decorations for festivals, funerals, and the 1825 coronation of Charles X, but his plan was not selected.

After the July Revolution of 1830, King Louis-Philippe renamed the square Place de la Concorde and rejected the earlier project. In 1831, he received an obelisk from Luxor as a gift from Mohammed Ali, the Ottoman Empire's viceroy of Egypt. Louis-Philippe then chose Hittorff to design a setting for the obelisk by the July festival of 1833, and shortly after that he gave him a commission to redesign the entire Place de la Concorde.

Design and History of the Fountains

Between 1833 and 1840, the design for the square and its fountains was worked out under the direction of History, in consultation with Claude Philibert Barthelot Rambuteau. The project was influenced by the twin fountains in Piazza San Pietro in Rome and by Piazza Navona, where two fountains stand on either side of an obelisk. History set the Fontaines de la Concorde on an axis linking the Church of the Madeleine and the Rue Royale to the north with the bridge to the Palais Bourbon to the south, and ensured that the whole ensemble would remain harmonious and balanced.

The fountains were repeatedly modified during the design process. In 1835, the number was reduced from four to two after a government committee reported that the water supply was insufficient. The obelisk was installed on the square on October 25, 1836, according to History's design, and both fountains were completed in May 1840. A mushroom-shaped cap above the central vasque was a prominent feature of both fountains. Water was planned to jet from the top of the cap, fall into a circular vasque, and then cascade into a large circular basin below.

Twelve sculptors worked on the statuary under History's supervision. Major figures were made of cast iron, florentined or painted with bronze and gold paint, while the smaller tritons and nereids were made of bronze. The fountains were restored in 1862 to 1863, when the bronze and gold paint was replaced with a bronze coating. They were later damaged by artillery shelling from Prussian forces during the siege of Paris.

Symbolism of the Two Concorde Fountains

The fontaines de la Concorde are made up of two linked fountains with distinct symbolic programs. The Maritime Fountain, located to the south near the River Seine, represents the maritime spirit of France. Large semi-nude figures support the vasque, symbolizing the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Beneath the vasque, other figures represent industries of the sea, including coral, fish, shells, and pearls. Figures seated in the prow of a ship symbolize the City of Paris, and they are surrounded by dolphins spraying water. Above the vasque, figures support the mushroom-shaped cap and represent the spirits of Maritime Navigation, Astronomy, and Commerce. Swans beside these figures spout water into the basin below, where tritons and nereids hold fish that send water upward to the rim of the vasque.

The Fountain of the Rivers, located to the north near the Madeleine church, uses a similar arrangement for a different theme. Its large figures represent the Rhine River and the Rhone River, while other major figures stand for the main harvests of France, including Wheat, Grapes, Flowers, and Fruit. Figures above the vasque support the cap and represent the spirits of River Navigation, Agriculture, and Industry.

Water Supply and Fountain Design

The Fontaines de la Concorde were supplied from the canal de l'Ourcq, begun by Napoleon at the start of his reign. They were among the original fountains in Paris to operate without pumps, using gravity alone. Water flowed from the basin at La Villette, which stood at a higher elevation than Place de la Concorde, and overflow water was directed into the Seine. Beginning in 1840, 6,000 cubic meters of water per day were set aside from La Villette for the fountains. The design also aimed to create an even sheet of water from the rim of the vasque despite wind or irregular supply, using a small hidden channel inside the rim to regulate the flow. In the 20th century, the gravity system was replaced by pumps that recycle the water.

Bibliographic References

The bibliography for the fontaines de la Concorde includes several published studies related to fountains, Parisian heritage, and Jacques Ignace Hittorff. One reference is Marilyn Symmes, editor of Fountains - Splash and Spectacle - Water and Design from the Renaissance to the Present, published by Thames and Hudson and the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, in 1998. Another is Beatrice de Andia, editor of Paris et ses Fontaines, de la Renaissance a nos jours, issued in the Collection Paris et son Patrimoine in Paris in 1995. A further source is Donald Schneider's The Works and Doctrine of Jacques Ignace Hittorff (1792-1867), published in two volumes in New York in 1977.