Carpeaux Fountain
(also known as Fountaine de l’Observtoire)

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• Carpeaux Fountain or the Fontaine de l’Observatoire, and designed in the 1860’s to represent the four parts of the world with a celestial globe, this is located within the Jardin des Grands Explorateurs in the Jardin Mrco Polo that is classed as an extension of the Luxembourg Gardens.
• The Fontaine de l'Observatoire is a monumental fountain located in the Jardin Marco Polo, south of the Jardin du Luxembourg in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, with sculpture by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux. It was dedicated in 1874. It is also known as the Fontaine des Quatre-Parties-du-Monde, for the four parts of the world embodied by its female figures, or simply the Fontaine Carpeaux.History
• The fountain was first proposed in 1866 as part of the creation of the new grand avenue du Luxembourg, one of the major projects of the plan of Baron Haussmann for the reconstruction of Paris.
• In 1867, in conjunction with Gabriel Davioud who was in charge of fountains, gardens and parks in Paris, the artist chosen for the main part of the ornamental design was Jean Baptiste Carpeaux Fountain.
• The sculptor decided to use four female figures as allegories, dancing around supporting a celestial sphere to represent the four parts of the world, and these were to represent Euroupe, Asia with a long hair braid, America with feathers, and that has a broken chain around the ankle as a symbol of abolition of slavery.