Fontaine de la Sagesse

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

History

In 1781, the municipal council requested a quotation for the construction of a fountain at the top of the Cours. This project was supported by a request from local residents in 1788. The same year, the mayor consul of Grasse requested that a plan and quotation for a fountain be drawn up. The installation was planned "at the corner of the angle in the shape of a harpsichord" by connecting to the canal projected by the hospice. The quotation was prepared, part of the council favoured an installation at the top of the Cours without success. The project was not carried out. The Revolution brought the project back to the agenda. In 1792, the consuls of the municipality deliberated in favour of the construction of a public fountain at the top of the Cours. The plan for the "pyramid fountain" was entrusted to the architect Jacques Quine (1759-1839). This plan was modified on 1st vendémiaire Year VII (22 September 1798), with the collaboration of the fountain master François Daumas. On 11 brumaire Year VII (1st November 1798), the construction of the fountain was awarded by auction to Scipion Théas, perfumer, who became its owner. Construction was decided a month later following requests from local residents to have access to drinking water near their homes. On 21 ventôse Year VIII (12 March 1800), the fountain was partially constructed. The municipal administration reproached Scipion Théas for imperfect execution of the quotation. Parts were only sketched and the earth resulting from the earthworks had not been cleared from the Cours and the path. During the course of the 19th century, the Cours became a place of leisure and sociability in Grasse. The municipality wished to enlarge the Cours from 1834. These terrace projects only came to fruition at the beginning of the 20th century. At the end of the 1870s, the trees forming the row were dying and were cut down (1877) then replaced by plane trees. On 3 May 1943, the municipal council voted in principle for the relocation of the fountain, whose presence was an obstacle to the widening of the road made necessary to make the bend at the top of the Cours safer. In June 1943, another deliberation clarified that, failing to find a qualified contractor, the fountain could not be rebuilt even though the principle remained agreed. On 17 November 1950, the municipal council decided on the reconstruction of the fountain on the place du 24 août, considering its "very great historical and artistic interest". The Cours was marked in the 1950s by the presence of the car on its esplanade. In 1960, the open-air car park of the Cours was to become fee-paying. At the end of the decade, the idea of an underground car park became established. The project was then entrusted to the architect Gilbert Baudoin. It involved creating a car park under the Cours, which led to a rearrangement of the eastern part of the Cours and destruction of the terrace as it had been arranged at the beginning of the 20th century. Within the framework of this project, the fountain of Wisdom was repatriated to the Cours. The whole of these arrangements was inaugurated on 12 May 1973.

Description

The fountain is composed of a basin in the centre of which stands an obelisk adorned with sculptures in high relief, set on a square pedestal, itself adorned and surmounted by busts of lions at the four corners sheltering the jets.