In 1737, Georges Vallon was appointed to rebuild the city centre of Aix en Provence.
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He had bourgeois houses built to the east and the Corn Exchange to the south. A fountain, designed by Esprit Brun, stands in the centre of the square formed by these buildings.
The Avignon artist Jean Chastel was chosen to decorate the fountain. In the centre of the circular pond is a cube-shaped pedestal adorned with garlands and flowers at each corner, as well as gargoyles representing water gods and goddesses, from which the water flows.
On the pedestal stands a classical granite column which recalls Roman times and supports a Corinthian marble capital this is topped with a sphere of Calissane stone adorned with a laurel branch, formerly made of gold.
There are inscriptions on the four sides of the pedestal: on the north, a few lines recall the work done on a Roman aqueduct to bring water to the Pinchinats spring to the east, the inscriptions on the south praise King Louis XV and the Duke of Villars, on the west they praise the Consuls of Aix, and the inscription facing the town hall has been altered to suit the whims of successive political regimes.
The Avignon artist Jean Chastel was chosen to decorate the fountain. In the centre of the circular pond is a cube-shaped pedestal adorned with garlands and flowers at each corner, as well as gargoyles representing water gods and goddesses, from which the water flows.
On the pedestal stands a classical granite column which recalls Roman times and supports a Corinthian marble capital this is topped with a sphere of Calissane stone adorned with a laurel branch, formerly made of gold.
There are inscriptions on the four sides of the pedestal: on the north, a few lines recall the work done on a Roman aqueduct to bring water to the Pinchinats spring to the east, the inscriptions on the south praise King Louis XV and the Duke of Villars, on the west they praise the Consuls of Aix, and the inscription facing the town hall has been altered to suit the whims of successive political regimes.
He had bourgeois houses built to the east and the Corn Exchange to the south. A fountain, designed by Esprit Brun, stands in the centre of the square formed by these buildings.
The Avignon artist Jean Chastel was chosen to decorate the fountain. In the centre of the circular pond is a cube-shaped pedestal adorned with garlands and flowers at each corner, as well as gargoyles representing water gods and goddesses, from which the water flows.
On the pedestal stands a classical granite...
The Avignon artist Jean Chastel was chosen to decorate the fountain. In the centre of the circular pond is a cube-shaped pedestal adorned with garlands and flowers at each corner, as well as gargoyles representing water gods and goddesses, from which the water flows.
On the pedestal stands a classical granite...
