Fountain of st, Micheal, (Paris, France); 1860; Eclecticism in architecture
The Saint-Michel fountain built in 1860 by the architect Gabriel Davioud.The fountain is located at the bottom of the boulevard Saint Michel near the Saint Michel bridge which spans the Seine. It includes a bronze group carved by Francisque Duret (1804-1865), inspired by the painting of Raphael in the Louvre, representing Saint Michael slaying the demon. The two dragons were sculpted by Henri-Alfred Jacquemart Davioud's fountain is huge in scale: it measures 85 x 49 ft. was built to hide the large gable of the islet on the edge of the Place Saint-André des Arts,slightly deviating from the main north-south road. She also wanted to recall the memory of the old chapel Saint-Michel in the island of the city..The centerpiece is the bronze statue of St. Michael. The archangel is shown in Roman garb, brandishing his sword of fire and seemingly ready to strike the demon. The sculpture group, a work of the French sculptor Francisque Duret, stands in a niche and rests on an artificial r...