La fontaine Médicis, Laura Godlaski

Taking its name from the powerful Medici family of Florence, Italy, la fontaine Médicis is a hidden gem nestled in the popular Luxembourg gardens in Paris. Marie de Medici (1575 – 1642), who was the widow of King Henri IV of France, found herself weary of living in the Louvre after her husband’s death.  She decided to have her own palace, Palais des Médicis, constructed (~1623 – 30) on the left bank of the Seine.  Feeling nostalgic for the style of the Palazzo Pitti and Boboli Gardens in her hometown of Florence, she commissioned both her palace and its surrounding gardens to be modeled on this same Italian Renaissance style.

The Fontaine Médicis in her gardens was originally not a fountain but a grotto (a scenic natural or artificial cave, the latter often constructed as a decorative element for a garden), known as La grotte du Luxembourg. It was most likely the work of Tommaso Francini, who had previously built grottos for gardens in Florence, in Rome, and in France for Henry IV.  Marie de Medici particularly adored La grotte de Buontalenti in the Boboli gardens, and so Francini took much of his inspiration from this style, with nymphs as a central feature of the grotto.

However, much of the original design has been changed or replaced in a number of reconstructions over the years.  These include the change in form from grotto to fountain along with other modifications in 1799 by the celebrated Jean Chalgrin  (1739 – 1811), architect of the Arc de Triomphe.  The most notable changes took place later, between 1864 – 66, when the fountain was moved about 30 meters to its current location in the Luxembourg gardens due to the construction of la rue Médicis.  There, the fountain was extensively rebuilt into the version we see today.  This final construction was based on the designs of Alphonse de Gisors (1796 – 1861), with sculptures by Auguste Ottin (1811 – 90), and contains a number of decorative elements.

The Medici coat of arms is centered on the top exterior panel of the fountain.  Other main features of the fountain include a central niche featuring Ottin’s statue of Acis holding Galatea, the two lying together under a rock on top of which is perched Polyphemus, ready to launch the stone fated to kill his rival*.  The side niches are decorated with a statue of a faun (probably Pan) and a huntress (probably Diana).  Because the fountain no longer had a “back” once it was moved to its current location, a large bas-relief by Achille Valois (1785 – 1862), featuring Leda with Jupiter transformed into a swan**, was moved from another salvaged fountain (originally at the intersection of the rue du Regard and the rue de Vaugirard) and placed on the new back wall for the Medici fountain.

Original viewers would have likely been familiar with these classical stories, given the revival of classical Roman and Greek myth during the Renaissance and the subsequent popularity of these themes in art and design.

Finally, Alphonse de Gisors also added the long water basin, extending approximately 50 meters from the fountain, and surrounded this basin with vases still in place today and in which are placed colorful flowers according to season.  There are typically more Parisians than tourists who come to relax on the benches here.  La Fontaine Médicis is a tranquil and beautiful place to sit quietly, listen to the soft babble of water, and find a bit of respite from the metropolitan pace of Paris.

*In Greek mythology, the Cyclops Polyphemus was deeply in love with Galatea, a sea nymph; however, she was in love with the young shepherd Acis, and the two used to mock Polyphemus’s songs of love for Galatea.  This statue depicts the moment when Polyphemus catches the lovers sleeping on a hill, just before killing Acis by crushing him under a huge rock. 

**Leda was the beautiful daughter of a king, and her beauty attracted Jupiter/Zeus.  Because Leda had already just been married to another king, however, Jupiter/Zeus decided to turn himself into an alluring swan in order to seduce her. 

References

“La Fontaine Médicis au Jardin du Luxembourg.” Paris 1900 l’art nouveau. pars. 1-2.           www.paris1900.lartnouveau.com/paris06/jardin_du_luxembourg/la_fontaine_medicis.htm. 1 Mar. 2020.

“Le Jardin du Luxembourg: La Fontaine Médicis.” Sénat: un site au service des citoyens. p. 1; all pp. in “Pour aller plus loin.” www.senat.fr/visite/fontaine/index.html 29 Feb. 2020.

“Paris-Insolite: La Fontaine Médicis.” Un jour de plus à Paris. pars. 3-12. www.unjourdeplusaparis.com/paris-insolite/fontaine-medicis  1 Mar. 2020.

Images 

Desmarais, Robert.  Galatée et Acis.JPG. Photo prise à la Fontaine de Médicis, Paris, Created 1 August 2008. Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10222872   Wikimedia CommonsRetrieved 11 March 2020.

“Paris-Insolite: La Fontaine Médicis.” Un jour de plus à Paris.  www.unjourdeplusaparis.com/paris-insolite/fontaine-medicis  Published with permission from the website. Two images retrieved 1 Mar. 2020.