Jump to content

Mercury fountain: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
mNo edit summary
Line 13: Line 13:
== External links==
== External links==


* [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.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]
* [http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/spain/barcelona/fundmiro/calder.html Photos of Calder's Mercury Fountain by Mary Ann Sullivan]
* [http://www.ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/pix/bar/miro/Almaden1.html Additional Photos of Calder's Mercury Fountain ]
* [http://www.ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/pix/bar/miro/Almaden1.html Additional Photos of Calder's Mercury Fountain ]

Revision as of 00:27, 23 September 2006

File:Wfm calder sculpture barcelona.jpg
Alexander Calder's Mercury Fountain in the sculpture garden of the Fundació Joan Miró

The Mercury fountain is a type of fountain constructed for use with mercury rather than water.

The most noted example is a modern sculpture designed by the American artist Alexander Calder and commissioned by the Spanish Republican government for the 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 General Franco's troops. A direct counterpart is Picasso's Guernica. Calder's mercury fountain, now at the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona, is displayed behind glass for safety reasons.

Background

History of mercury fountains

Mercury fountains existed in some castles in Islamic Spain; the most famous one was situated at the Kasr-al-Kholaifa in Córdoba.