Fontaine des Quatre-Saisons

The Fontaine des Quatre-Saisons (French for 'Fountain of the Four Seasons') is a monumental 18th-century public fountain, at 57-59 rue de Grenelle in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France.

The Fontaine des Quatre-Saisons was the largest and most ornate of the thirty fountains built in Paris in the 18th century to provide drinking water to the city's residents.

Between 1715 and 1724, the Conseil d'Etat of King Louis XV began discussing the idea of a new fountain in the Faubourg Saint-Germain area, which was rapidly growing.

[1] The fountain had a double purpose: to provide water to Parisians, and to advertise the benevolence of King Louis XV to the people of Paris.

The King's principal minister and political counselor, the Cardinal de Fleury, personally wrote the inscription which was placed on the facade of the fountain, in Latin, in gold letters engraved in black marble: Whereas Louis XV, the object of the love of his people and excellent father, the support of public tranquility, after having recovered, without the flow of blood, the frontiers of the Kingdom of France, and since peace has been happily restored between the Germans and the Russians and the Subjects of the Ottoman Empire, ruling in a manner both glorious and peaceful; the Prevot des marchands and the ediles (town counselors) have devoted this fountain to the service of the citizens and to the beautification of the city in the course of the year 1739.

On the other side is a representation of the River Marne, occupied by her care to spread her good works in the city, to procure abundance and to make commerce flourish.

It was featured, along with a fine engraving of the fountain, in the article on classical sculpture by J. F. Blondel in the French Encyclopedia of 1765.