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Importing Wikidata short description: "Decorative fountain using mercury as the liquid"
 
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{{Short description|Decorative fountain using mercury as the liquid}}
[[Image:Wfm calder sculpture barcelona.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[Alexander Calder]]'s Mercury Fountain in the sculpture garden of the [[Fundació Joan Miró]]]]
{{about|fountains using liquid metallic mercury|the bronze Mercury Fountain at Oxford University|Tom Quad|the stone statue in Mexico|Fountain of Mercury}}
The '''Mercury Fountain''' is a type of [[fountain]] constructed for use with [[Mercury (element)|mercury]] rather than water.
{{More citations needed|date=August 2022}}
A '''mercury fountain''' is a [[fountain]] constructed for use with liquid metallic [[mercury (element)|mercury]] ("quicksilver") rather than water.


Mercury fountains existed in some castles in [[Al-Andalus|Islamic Spain]]; the most famous one was located at the Kasr-al-Kholaifa in [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]].{{cn|date=May 2021}}
The most noted example is a modern sculpture designed by the American artist [[Alexander Calder]] and commissioned by the [[Second Spanish Republic|Spanish Republican government]] for the [[Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (1937)|1937 World Exhibition in Paris]]. The artwork is a memorial to the siege of [[Almadén]], which then supplied 60% of the world's mercury, by [[Francisco Franco|General Franco]]'s troops. A direct counterpart is [[Picasso]]'s [[Guernica (painting)|Guernica]]. Calder's mercury fountain, now at the [[Fundació Joan Miró]] in [[Barcelona]], is displayed behind glass for safety reasons.
==Calder's ''Mercury Fountain''==
[[File:Font de Mercuri d'Alexander Calder.jpg|thumb|upright|Calder's fountain of mercury at the [[Fundació Joan Miró]] in [[Barcelona]]]]
The most well-known modern example is a sculpture designed by the American artist [[Alexander Calder]], commissioned by the [[Second Spanish Republic|Spanish Republican government]] for the [[Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (1937)|1937 World Exhibition in Paris]]. The artwork is a memorial to the siege of [[Almadén]] by [[Francisco Franco|General Franco]]'s troops; at the time, the region supplied 60&nbsp;percent of the world's mercury.<ref name=calder>{{Cite web |last=Jessop |first=Tara |date=2016-08-08 |title=Calder Mercury Fountain: The World's Most Beautiful Yet Deadly Monument |url=https://theculturetrip.com/europe/spain/articles/calder-mercury-fountain-the-worlds-most-beautiful-yet-deadly-monument/ |access-date=2022-08-08 |website=Culture Trip}}</ref>


The fountain was a sculptural counterpart to ''[[Guernica (painting)|Guernica]]'', [[Pablo Picasso]]'s protest against [[Spanish Civil War]] atrocities. Calder's ''Mercury Fountain'' is now at the [[Fundació Joan Miró]] in [[Barcelona]], displayed behind glass to control [[Mercury poisoning|toxic mercury vapors]].<ref name=calder />
Mercury fountains existed in some castles in [[Islamic Spain]], the most famous one was at the [[Kasr-al-Kholaifa]] in [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]].


==References==
===External links===
{{reflist}}
* [http://www.bcn.fjmiro.es/angles/_coleperm/home-font.html Calder's Mercury Fountain] at the Fundació Joan Miró, with a [[Quicktime]] movie.
* [http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/spain/barcelona/fundmiro/calder.html Photos of Calder's Mercury Fountain] by Mary Ann Sullivan


==External links==
*[http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/spain/barcelona/fundmiro/calder.html Photos of Calder's ''Mercury Fountain'' by Mary Ann Sullivan]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q35_zuffGqk Video of Calder's ''Mercury Fountain'' in installation context]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOn5nzF90yA Closeup video of flow in Calder's ''Mercury Fountain'']

{{Alexander Calder|state=collapsed}}
{{1937 Paris International Exposition of Arts and Techniques Applied to Modern Life}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercury Fountain}}
[[Category:Fountains]]
[[Category:Fountains]]
[[Category:Mercury (element)]]
[[Category:Sculptures by Alexander Calder]]
[[Category:1937 sculptures]]

{{sculpture-stub}}
{{Spain-sculpture-stub}}

[[ca:Font de mercuri]]
[[es:Fuente de Mercurio]]

Latest revision as of 10:40, 5 September 2024

A mercury fountain is a fountain constructed for use with liquid metallic mercury ("quicksilver") rather than water.

Mercury fountains existed in some castles in Islamic Spain; the most famous one was located at the Kasr-al-Kholaifa in Córdoba.[citation needed]

Calder's Mercury Fountain

[edit]
Calder's fountain of mercury at the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona

The most well-known modern example is a sculpture designed by the American artist Alexander Calder, commissioned by the Spanish Republican government for the 1937 World Exhibition in Paris. The artwork is a memorial to the siege of Almadén by General Franco's troops; at the time, the region supplied 60 percent of the world's mercury.[1]

The fountain was a sculptural counterpart to Guernica, Pablo Picasso's protest against Spanish Civil War atrocities. Calder's Mercury Fountain is now at the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona, displayed behind glass to control toxic mercury vapors.[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Jessop, Tara (2016-08-08). "Calder Mercury Fountain: The World's Most Beautiful Yet Deadly Monument". Culture Trip. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
[edit]