Triton Fountain (Nuremberg)
The Triton Fountain (occasionally also Triton Fountain, colloquially known as gargoyle) is the only Baroque fountain in Nuremberg's old town (after the dismantling of the Neptune Fountain in 1934 under Nazi aegis ) . It is located in the middle of the elongated Maxplatz (a baroque square that is still recognizable in outline, the central green area of which has been partially destroyed by the traffic-oriented redesign in 1967).
history
The 1689 by Johann Leonhard Bromig d.Ä. The Triton Fountain was originally designed for Emperor Leopold I and the victory over the Turkish troops at Mohacz (now Siklós ). (Whether the reference to Mohacz is correct seems doubtful, as there were only a few months between the battle and the erection of the well, which could not be sufficient for the construction; accordingly, it can be assumed that this dedication was not decisive, but at most opportune on the occasion of the erection The Latin inscription on a medal coined for the inauguration of the fountain points to the coronation of Joseph, Leopold I's son, as King of Hungary. However, that would not necessarily have been a sufficient reason for the city council of Nuremberg dark.) the question "whether a public fountain uf the Neuenbaw (Maxplatz) anrivhte " is occupied three years before the unpredictable what has been hostilities in Mohacz) already on 22 July 1684 (. The fountain was at least meant to "adorn the city" . For the elongated baroque square , a "beautiful, large, wide and long square" , such a fountain was required as the center. It is also unclear to this day whether the fountain goes back to the sole authorship of Bromig, or at least whether the shell was made by a "sculptor from Künzelsaw". (probably meant by Johann Jacob Sommer from Künzelsau / Württ.). However, Bromig's authorship of the statue of Triton is not in doubt.
Originally the Triton Fountain had two smaller side fountains, which were placed at the western and eastern ends of the square (the last one at the later location of the Dürer-Pirckheimer-Fountain). It was (as far as it can be seen on a steel engraving by Delsenbach, dated 1720), round basins in the shape of a clam shell resting on simple round pedestals with attached metal grids; each with a fountain and apparently without figurative decorations. The whereabouts of these side wells is unclear.
In 1766 the fountain was completely renovated for the first time. To what extent there were changes or redesigns is questionable. The conch shell may have been replaced. The original baroque iron grating surrounding the fountain was removed and melted down as early as 1809 at the instigation of the Bavarian city commissioner. In 1821 a second fountain, the classicistic Dürer-Pirckheimer fountain, was also installed on the square .
After severe war damage in January 1945, the fountain was restored in 1953 with the restoration of the Triton figure, which had been shattered into ruins (reconstruction by the sculptor Albert Feist ).
description
theme
The fountain is dedicated to Triton , son of Poseidon and Amphitria . Greek mythology and allegories of water are a typical theme of the early profane Baroque ( Carpe Diem ), free of Christian symbolism, the fountain sculpture is thus also an expression and testimony of the 140 years after the Reformation was implemented and under the strong influence of humanism in Nuremberg ( Philipp Melanchthon ) advanced secularization in Nuremberg.
Fountain architecture and figure program
An expansive, strongly profiled sandstone basin with a four-pass floor plan rises on a three-tiered staircase base. In the middle of the basin, a central base with four dolphin heads supports another shell-shaped round basin. In the middle of it rises above intertwined fish tails, the kneeling Triton statue, as a lifelike, muscular male body. With her arms bent, she holds a bowl over her head, from which a fountain rises. The water runs over the Triton figure into the overflowing mussel shell and runs over its edge into the fountain basin. The fountain basin is also fed by the four water-spouting dolphin heads.
Idol
Formal correspondences with the Fontana del Tritone, created 1642–1643 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini on the Piazza Barberini in Rome, are evident . The Roman fountain made of travertine has a basically similar structure. Four dolphins (with erect tail fins and significantly higher) rise from a basin near the ground, which is formally simpler and without a stepped base, as a pedestal , which carry two wide-open shell halves (instead of a shell). In the open clam an excessive muscular Triton consisting of a sitting conch a fountain spouts. The tritone figure itself, however, is extremely similar. There is no evidence that Bromig was in Rome at the time. However, in 1685 Siegfried Froberg published a collection of copper engravings ( Der Römischen Fontanen True Figure ) in Nuremberg , which also contained the Fontana del Tritone. Although the inspiration from the Roman model is unmistakable, the Nuremberg Triton Fountain is an in-house creation, because "there are also significant deviations from the Nuremberg Fountain: A solid pillar with dolphins' heads instead of the (...) erect (...) fish bodies; a massive one -stable conch shell instead of the variously curved and pleated shape of the model; finally, the profiled fountain border has a much stronger voice, which is additionally raised and upgraded by two steps. The fountain is therefore by no means a pure replica of the Bernini fountain, but it shows very well independent and apparently deliberately changed traits. " (E. Mulzer).
Well technology and water supply
To operate the fountain, which was originally (unlike today, since the fountain has been reduced to 30–40 cm in height since the traffic-oriented redesign of Maxplatz in 1967), a relatively complex technique was installed. Means one of the flow of the Pegnitz driven water wheel on the nails one mill was operated a four-cylinder pump system over a four-fold cranked shaft scooped in the river water of a raised lattice tower in the 20 meter high elevated tank. From there - with the appropriate pressure - a water pipe led to the Triton Fountain. This system, which was technically very remarkable for the 17th century, was in operation - apparently trouble-free - from the installation of the fountain to the first fundamental renovation in 1773. In 1851 the water tower was replaced by a neo-Gothic stone building, which was demolished in 1937. It was not until 1899 - after more than two hundred years - that the well was apparently converted to conventional pumps and a closed water cycle.
literature
- Günther P. Fehring, Anton Ress: Around the city of Nuremberg, brief inventory . Munich / Nuremberg 1977, ISBN 3-422-00550-1 .
- Elke Masa: Free sculptures in Nuremberg - sculptures, monuments and fountains in the public space of the city . Neustadt / Aisch 1994, ISBN 3-87707-479-0 .
- Erich Mulzer: The Triton Fountain on Maxplatz - a piece of unknown Nuremberg? In: Altstadtfreunde Nürnberg eV (Hrsg.): Nürnberger Altstadt reports. No. 19, Nuremberg 1994, p. 27 ff.
Web links
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Attributed to Johann Jacob Sommer by E. Masa (see below) with reference to E. Mulzer (see below). The source given by Masa in Mulzer does not support this thesis.
- ↑ a b c Erich Mulzer In: Nürnberger Altstadt reports. No. 19/1994.
- ↑ Leaving the Council of the Free Imperial City of Nuremberg from July 22, 1684 / StAN Rep. 60a No. 2828, p. 181.
- ↑ Nuremberg City Archives AVN B1 / II, XV no. 35.
- ↑ Nuremberg City Archives AvN F1 (Chronicles), No. 50, Bl. 238.
- ↑ Submission by the Nuremberg Artists and Art Friends Association of September 28, 1811, regarding the removal of the fountain grids at the Tugendbrunnen and Triton Fountain (done) and at the Schön Brunnen , (not done), as well as the large bronze grating in the great hall of the town hall (done) / StAN Rep. 170-1 No. 4629
- ↑ The Triton's head and torso were recovered from the rubble. The arms and the drinking bowl are new products by Feist based on photographs / Erich Mulzer In: Nürnberger Altstadtberichte. No. 19/1994.
- ↑ Bamberg City Library Nuremberg AvN F1 (Chronicles), No. 50, Bl. JH Art. F. 14th
- ↑ Erich Mulzer in Nuremberg Old Town Reports No. 19/1994, p. 37.
- ↑ Nürnberger Zeitung. July 23, 1937.
Coordinates: 49 ° 27 ′ 15.8 " N , 11 ° 4 ′ 20.8" E