Fontaine des Innocents

The Fontaine des Innocents is a monumental public fountain located on the place Joachim-du-Bellay in the Les Halles district in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France.

Artists were commissioned to construct elaborate monuments, mostly temporary, along his route, from the Port Saint-Denis to the Palais de la Cité, passing by le Châtelet, the Pont Notre-Dame and the Cathedral.

Under Napoleon Bonaparte, a new aqueduct was constructed from the River Ourcq, and finally the fountain gushed water, in such abundance that it threatened the sculptural decoration.

[6] In 1858, during the Second French Empire of Louis Napoleon, the fountain was again moved, to its present location on a modest pedestal in the middle of the square; and six basins of pouring water, one above the other, were added on each façade.

Francis I named him chief architect of the Palais du Louvre, and over the following years he transformed the building from a medieval castle into a Renaissance palace.

The nymph and triton on one of the fountain panels (see illustration) resembled a Roman sarcophagus in Grottaferrata, which was on display when Goujon was in Rome, and which had been the subject of several 16th century artists.