{"id":20768,"date":"2024-06-30T21:32:24","date_gmt":"2024-06-30T19:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colleensparis.com\/?p=20768"},"modified":"2024-08-19T18:34:15","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T16:34:15","slug":"jean-goujon-and-la-fontaine-des-innocents-their-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-wptechsupport.com\/colleensparis\/2024\/06\/jean-goujon-and-la-fontaine-des-innocents-their-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"Jean Goujon and La Fontaine des Innocents: Their Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The exhibition poster of a woman holding a jug on her shoulder with water streaming out in ribbons caught my attention. The Mus\u00e9e Carnavalet’s poster for La Fontaine des Innocents drew me in with image and the subtitle: \u201cHistoires d\u2019un chef d\u2019\u0153uvre Parisien\u201d (stories of a Parisian masterpiece). I passed the fountain often on my way to Les Halles this past year. It was surrounded by corrugated aluminum and photos. Now, I connected the two: the exhibition and the renovation.\u00a0The fountain I had taken for granted as always being there suddenly became a hunt for more answers, a journey through French Renaissance history and an expansion of my Parisian knowledge. The exhibition opened new doors for my curiosity for the stories behind the fountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

What you will see in the exhibit<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The exhibition (until August 25, 2024) presents the lifetime of one of Paris’s oldest fountains, its movement at least three times, its morphing with the rhythm of time, and the influence that Goujon\u2019s sculptures had in Parisian art. The exhibition is a quick and detailed study of sculptural art of the human form. It covers the 14th to 19th centuries. Museum labels for adults and children are written in English, English and Spanish. <\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Mus\u00e9e<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The morphing of the fountain began in 1786 with a design change when the Holy Innocents Cemetery was removed. The Ourcq Canal constructed in 1809 supplied the Fontaine with drinking water for the March\u00e9 des Innocents. The fountain was the heart and soul of the March\u00e9 des Innocents: the fruit and vegetable markets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original nymphs and vertical bas-reliefs from the original 1548 fountain were removed to the Louvre in 1818. In 1858, March\u00e9 des Innocents was taken apart to make way for Victor Baltard\u2019s covered market of metal and glass pavilions. In 1859 the fountain was moved several meters to the east. Before one more move to its present location in the 19th century, it obtained historical monument status in 1862.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of the exhibition, restoration demonstrations using plaster casts are held on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The conservators in the workshop allow visitors to observe the technical art of preserving monuments, e.g., using a micro-vacuum technique removing dust and plaster, applying absorbant gels and the use of low-pressure water vapour. A video presents the restoration techniques on other days. After the exhibit closes Goujon’s works are visible at the Louvre<\/a> and the Mus\u00e9e Carnavalet<\/a>. A visit to the exhibition is worth the visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Who was Jean Goujon?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Little is known about Goujon\u2019s personal life from his possible birth in Normandy in 1510, to his debated death. His probable end came when he and other Huguenots fled Paris during the French Wars of Religion<\/a>. Recent evidence shows he died<\/a> in Bologna, Italy, around 1562 . Or you have the dramatic legend of his being killed on the scaffolding of the fountain during the Saint Bartholomew\u2019s Day Massacre in 1572.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Paul<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goujon\u2019s career began with his first documented commissions in Rouen, France, between 1540 and 1542. Replicas of his work are visible in the church of Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois across from the Louvre (metro rue de Rivoli), La Fontaine des Innocents and Louvre masterpieces<\/a>. The legacy he left leaves no question of his style, technique and imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What sets his sculptures apart<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Goujon profoundly influenced many later artists with his sinuous, fluid movement of fabric. Even sculptures standing still seem to move. For the fountain sculptures, the water seems to follow the human form. Some may compare him to Greek sculptures. However, in the 1500\u2019s Greece was controlled<\/a> by the Ottoman Empire, which allowed no foreign visitors. His work was his imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Echoes of Goujon\u2019s style is evident in various Parisian landmarks shown at the exhibition. For instance, Auguste Pr\u00e9ault\u2019s relief sculpture of Ophelia, Jean-Guillaume Moitte\u2019s neo-classical models for the tomb of a fallen general or Augustin Pajou\u2019s bas-relief over doorways at the former H\u00f4tel de Voyer d\u2019Argenson all draw from Goujon\u2019s artistic legacy. More recently, his influence is apparent in Jean-Paul Goude\u2019s photograph 1992 Chanel perfume (Coco) advertisement of Vanessa Paradis. Goude\u2019s inspiration came from \u201cLa Source\u201d by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1856), which traces its source back to one of Goujon\u2019s fountain nymphs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next up for me is the treasure hunt at the Louvre finding his other works based on the Wikipedia photos.<\/a> Enjoy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional information on Jean Goujon<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

“Renewal of Passion<\/a><\/strong>” National Museum of the Renaissance – Ch\u00e2teau d’\u00c9couen (worth a day trip visit)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Museum of the <\/strong>Renaissance<\/strong> video<\/strong> <\/a>of the Renewal of Passion exhibition (During confinement the museum was closed.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More detailed history<\/a> and morphing of La Fontaine des Innocents. Some dates may differ from the exhibition’s presentation. It is an interested read nonetheless. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Relief
Nymph relief detail of Jean Goujon’s sculptures from the French Renaissance (1548)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Paul
Paul Delaroche\u2019s 1836 preparatory drawing of Jean Goujon at the Carnavalet Museum Fontaine des Innocents exhibit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Fontaine
Fontaine des Innocents in front of Les Halles (1858) before being moved to its present location<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A
A view of the March\u00e9 des Innocents in 1858<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Tourists
Tourists in front of the Fontaine des Innocents (Robert Doisneau 1957)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Carnavalet
Carnavalet museum labels for adults and children are in English, English and Spanish. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Carnavalet
Carnavalet holds a demonstration workshop to make reliefs from molds on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Nymph
Nymph reliefs from 1548 Mus\u00e9e Carnavalet Fontaine des Innocents<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"La
La Source Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres 1856 at Carnavalet museum for Fontaine des Innocents<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Chanel
Chanel (Coco) perfume ad from 1992 (Jean-Paul Goude photographer) inspired by Ingres’s La Source, inspired by Jean Goujon’s nymphs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Nymph
Nymph reliefs from 1548 Mus\u00e9e Carnavalet Fontaine des Innocents<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"models
models for the tomb of General Desaix (The Rhine River and The Nile River, Jean-Guillaume Moitte 1803) modeled on Goujon\u2019s nymphs Carnavalet Museum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Nymph
Nymph reliefs from 1548 Mus\u00e9e Carnavalet Fontaine des Innocents<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Paul
Paul Goujon sculpture of Saint Luke (1544) Carnavalet museum Fontaine des Innocents exhibition<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Ophelia
Ophelia (August Pr\u00e9ault 1842) for 1876 Salon inspired by Jean Goujon’s use of fluidity<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Carnavalet
Carnavalet museum labels for adults and children are in English, English and Spanish. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"photo
Fountain with protective encasing during the Second World War<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Renovated
Fontaine des Innocents renovation took one year and reopened June 2024 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An exhibition opened new doors to learning of a little known sculptor of a Parisian masterpiece. The exhibition poster of a woman holding a jug on her shoulder with water streaming out in droplets caught my attention. The Mus\u00e9e Carnavalet’s poster for La Fontaine des Innocents drew me in with image and the subtitle: \u201cHistoires d\u2019un chef d\u2019\u0153uvre Parisien\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"An exhibition at Mus\u00e9e Carnavalet opened new doors to learn of the little-known sculptor of a Parisian masterpiece. The exhibition poster of a woman holding a jug on her shoulder with water streaming out in ribbons caught my attention. ","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[691,668],"tags":[1662,771,1661,810,1650,1351,1656,1655,1654,805,1652,1663,1657,525,248,145,1363,1660,1665,13,845,1664,1659,1658],"class_list":["post-20768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-monuments","tag-augustin-pajou","tag-chanel","tag-chateau-decouen","tag-exhibition","tag-fontaine-des-innocents","tag-fountains","tag-french-renaissance","tag-french-war-of-religions","tag-henri-ii","tag-history","tag-jean-goujon","tag-jean-auguste-dominique-ingres","tag-jean-paul-goude","tag-les-halles","tag-louvre","tag-mairie-de-paris","tag-musee-carnavalet","tag-national-museum-of-the-renaissance","tag-ourcq-canal","tag-paris","tag-sculpture","tag-vanessa-paradis","tag-victor-baltard","tag-wikipedia"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/staging-wptechsupport.com\/colleensparis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Fontaine-Renovated-DSC09201.jpeg?fit=1280%2C854&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-wptechsupport.com\/colleensparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-wptechsupport.com\/colleensparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-wptechsupport.com\/colleensparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-wptechsupport.com\/colleensparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-wptechsupport.com\/colleensparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20768"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/staging-wptechsupport.com\/colleensparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20920,"href":"https:\/\/staging-wptechsupport.com\/colleensparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20768\/revisions\/20920"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-wptechsupport.com\/colleensparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-wptechsupport.com\/colleensparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-wptechsupport.com\/colleensparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-wptechsupport.com\/colleensparis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}