BY FERDINAND BARBEDIENNE, PARIS, LAST QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

The present figures are modeled after four nymphs sculpted within the rectangular pilasters of the Fontaine des Innocents, currently located on the place Joachim-du-Bellay, Paris. Commissioned to commemorate the royal entry of King Henry II and Catherine de Medici into the city on 16th and 18th of June 1549, it was intended to serve as a piece of ephemeral festival architecture. Originally called the Fountain of the Nymphs, it was constructed between 1547 and 1550 by the architect Pierre Lescot and the sculptor Jean Goujon, and stands as the oldest monumental fountain in Paris.