The Fontaine du Fellah, also known as the Egyptian Fountain, located at 52 rue de Sèvres in the 7th arrondissement of Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, next to the entrance of the Vaneau metro station

Vaneau (Paris Metro)

Vaneau is a station on line 10 of the Paris Metro on the border of the 6th arrondissement and 7th arrondissements.The station was opened by the Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris on 30 December 1923 as part of the first section of the ligne circulaire interieur from Invalides via...

, was built in 1806 during the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte, in the neo-Egyptian style inspired by Napoleon's Egyptian campaign. It is the work of architect François-Jean Bralle

François-Jean Bralle

François-Jean Bralle was a French architect and engineer, best known as for the construction of fountains in Paris during the time of Napoleon Bonaparte...

 and sculptor Pierre-Nicolas Beauvalet.

Geographic Coordinates: 48°50′55.32"N 02°19′16.32"E

History

The Fontaine du Fellah was one of fifteen fountains constructed by Napoleon to provide fresh drinking water to the population of Paris, and to commemorate his military campaigns. (See Fountains in Paris

Fountains in Paris

The Fountains in Paris originally provided drinking water for city residents, and now are decorative features in the city's squares and parks...

). The fountain was constructed against the wall of what was then the hospital for incurable patients. It was the work of architect François-Jean Bralle, the chief engineer of the water supply for the city of Paris, who also was responsible for reconstructing the Medici Fountain

Medici Fountain

The Medici Fountain is a monumental fountain in the Jardin du Luxembourg in the 6th arrondissement in Paris. It was built in about 1630 by Marie de' Medici, the widow of King Henry IV of France and regent of King Louis XIII of France...

 in the Luxembourg Gardens and several other fountains. The sculptural decoration was by Pierre-Nicolas Beauvalet, who also worked on the decoration of the column in Place Vendôme

Place Vendôme

Place Vendôme is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine. It is the starting point of the Rue de la Paix. Its regular architecture by Jules Hardouin-Mansart and pedimented screens canted across the...

, and made busts of many revolutionary figures. The present statue is a copy made of Beauvalet's original by Jean-François Gechter.

The fountain was in working order until 2005, when it was shut down because of leakage into the nearby Vaneau Metro Station.

Description

The title refers to an Egyptian fellah

Fellah

Fellah , also alternatively known as Fallah is a peasant, farmer or agricultural laborer in the Middle East and North Africa...

, or peasant, but statue appears to be a copy of a Roman statue of Antinous

Antinous

Antinoüs or Antinoös was a beautiful Bithynian youth and the favourite of the Roman emperor Hadrian...

, a favorite of the Emperor Hadrian

Hadrian

Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...

, which was discovered in the excavation of Hadrian's villa in Tivoli

Tivoli, Italy

Tivoli , the classical Tibur, is an ancient Italian town in Lazio, about 30 km east-north-east of Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river where it issues from the Sabine hills...

 in 1739. The original of the statue is found in the Vatican Museum in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

.

The figure holds two amphorae, one in each hand. Water poured from the amphorae into the semicircular basin below, then through a bronze masqueron in the form of a lion's head. The top of the fountain is decorated with an eagle, signifying Napoleon's imperial rule.