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Origin and history

La Fontaine des Mers is one of two symmetrical fountains installed in Place de la Concorde in Paris between 1836 and 1846, under the direction of architect Jacques-Ignace Hittorff. These fountains, commissioned as part of an urban reorganization designed to erase the troubled political memories of the square, frame the obelisk of Luxor erected in 1836. La Fontaine des Mers, located south towards the Seine, celebrates maritime navigation with six colossal figures representing the Ocean, the Mediterranean, and allegories of fishing, while its northern counterpart, the Fountain of the Rivers, evokes river navigation. Their inauguration in 1840 marked the culmination of an ambitious artistic and technical project, incorporating golden cast iron statues made by renowned artists such as Jean-François-Théodore Gechter or Antoine Desboeufs.

The design of fountains is part of a desire to glorify the French naval genius, in connection with the presence of the Ministry of the Navy in one of the hotels bordering the square. The statues, made of iron cast iron — a technical innovation for the time — were produced by the Tusey foundry in Lorraine, with the exception of the symbolic parts covered with gilding. The adjacent rostral columns, decorated with bows of ships, reinforce this maritime theme and recall the emblem of the City of Paris. In 1871, after the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine by Germany, the allegorical statue of Strasbourg was draped with black, adding a political and memorial dimension to the monument.

The history of the Place de la Concorde, marked by revolutionary executions, directly influences the creation of fountains. Under Louis-Philippe I, Louis XVIII's initial project — to erect a statue of Louis XVI — was abandoned in favour of symbolic neutrality, embodied by the Egyptian obelisk and fountains. The latter, by celebrating peaceful conquests (trade, navigation, science), transform the place into a place of national reconciliation. Their neo-classical style, inspired by the original plans of Angel-Jacques Gabriel, harmonizes with the surrounding architecture, while integrating industrial innovations such as gas lighting via rostral columns.

The fountains quickly became Parisian symbols, immortalized in films such as Fantomas (1964) or Un Américain à Paris (1951), where a replica of the Fontaine des Mers served as a decor for the final dance scenes. Their maintenance and preservation reflect their status as major heritage elements, although their primary function — to celebrate French maritime power — is now less obvious to the public. La Fontaine des Mers, with its allegories and naturalistic details (swans, shells), remains an artistic testimony of the 19th century's cultural and technological ambitions.

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