Fontein op Place de la Carrière te Nancy before 1896

This is an anonymous print of a fountain in Place de la Carrière in Nancy, France. It represents one of four fountains, displaying two children riding a dolphin. Public fountains such as these were commonly placed in European town squares to provide drinking water for the community but they also acted as important social and political symbols. Often erected by civic authorities, they functioned as a show of power but also communicated ideas about public health, hygiene, and civic order. What is the significance of the dolphin motif, and the choice to depict children rather than adults? Perhaps it alludes to classical mythology or a civic myth important to the town's identity. The dolphin is a motif that transcends cultures across time periods. To truly understand this image we must know who commissioned the fountain, where it was placed and what other buildings or monuments were nearby. These are the contextual details that can reveal so much about the public role of art.