Deluge Fountain
| Polish: Fontanna Potop | |
Potop Fountain
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| Coordinates | 53°07′34″N 18°00′22″E / 53.12624°N 18.00599°ECoordinates: 53°07′34″N 18°00′22″E / 53.12624°N 18.00599°E |
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| Location | Bydgoszcz |
| Designer | Ferdinand Lepcke |
| Type | Sculpture Fountain |
| Material | Bronze |
| Height | 6 m |
| Beginning date | 1897 |
| Completion date | 23 July 1904 then 26 June 2014 |
The Deluge Fountain is a monumental sculpture fountain which has stood with all its elements between 1904 and 1943 and since 2014 in Bydgoszcz. Throughout the first time of its existence (39 years) and since its rebuilding, this masterpiece has always been one of the tourist attractions of the city. The process of reconstruction was led by the "Social Committee for the Reconstruction of Bydgoszcz Fountain The Deluge" (Polish: Społeczny Komitet Odbudowy Bydgoskiej Fontanny Potop) from 2006 to 2014. The unveiling ceremony took place on June 26, 2014.
The statue portrays the culmination moment of the biblical flood: people and animals who are left because they did not find shelter on the barge. The sculpture fountain is composed of three independent upstanding parts. The central fountain block is a man, supporting a fainting woman in his left arm, while he strives with his other hand to pull another man on his rock. At the foot of the rock is a young mother, dying from exhaustion, but who managed to save her helpless child. Beside a lion climbs the rock, not doing any harm. This is the main figure, standing at the center of the basin.
The second block figures a lonely bear crawling on the rock, its head facing east and its right paw raised. In its clenched jaws, the bear holds the dead body of a cub. The third part of the sculpture refers to the Greek mythology: it reminds of Laocoön legend, with a man fighting a sea serpent contortioned. Realistic details outline the efforts of the muscles and the tension of the struggle. The fountain is 6 m tall and made of bronze, with total weight of 9 tons. The circular pool wall is out of red sandstone, with some Silesian gray granite, the surrounding pavement is arranged in a mosaic.
The fountain is outcome result of a competition issued in 1897 by the National Commission for the Promotion of Fine Arts (German: 'Landes für Kunst Komission Fordemung der Künste Bildende') in Poznań, which theme was water sculptures in Bydgoszcz. The competition, received 46 works, and rewarded a Berlin artist, (1866-1909).
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