368 
PAR^K AND CE:M£.T£;RY. 
The Mission of the Fountain. 
By Mrs. Herman J. Hall. 
(Concluded.) 
All over Europe touches of 
grotesque art be observed in 
some fountains, but nowhere else 
is this so pronounced as in the 
street fountains of Berne, Switz- 
erland. The most ridiculous of 
these is called the Ogre. It rep- 
resents a monster in human form 
devouring a plump baby, while 
armored bears, typical of Berne, 
cheerfully disport themselves 
about the column on which the 
Ogre stands. 
In Antwerp is to be seen a 
semi-grotesque design of Quin- 
tin Matsys, the smithy who 
turned painter to win a maid. 
The iron canopy above the 
spring bears a figure of Silvius 
Brabo, a legendary Belgian 
David, who smote off the hand 
of the giant Antigonous and 
threw it into the Schelde. Antigonous had an 
unpleasant habit of mutilating the shipmasters 
of the river if they failed to pay the toll which he 
exacted when their vessels arrived in port. A mod- 
ern fountain to the same hero is in front of the Hotel 
GOTHIC FOUNTAIN 
IN MARKET PLACE 
AT NUREMBURG. 
FOUNTAIN OF BRABO IN ANTWERP. 
BIRD FOUNTAIN IN PALACE GARDEN, GRANADA. 
de Ville. It is a huge pile of stones surmounted by a 
bronze Brabo, who is throwing an enormous hand to- 
ward the water. Some such decorative features com- 
memorating an Indian legend, could be successfully car- 
ried out in many of the western American cities. They 
would perpetuate our folk-lore, and add to the pictu- 
resque effects that so often lack interest because no 
historic association is apparent. 
The stork does not bring the new baby to Nuremburg 
by way of the chimney, but by favor of the village ora- 
cle and town center, which is no other than the famous 
Schonbrunnen (beautiful fountain). It is a marvel of 
Gothic art, by Heinrich, the Balier, and is a tabernacled 
pyramid of stone, sixty-three feet high, sculptured with 
figures of electors, town heroes and biblical personages. 
Its spire echoes those of the mighty cathedral near by, 
and in the days of Maximilian, when Nuremburg wore 
her costiliest garments, was covered with pure gold. . 
An ingenious ring in the iron balustrade about the well / 
is claimed to be in cognizance of the city. 
Contrast the enjoyment afforded by the foregoing 
single fountains to the costly aquatic monuments, of 
Versailles, St. Cloud and others in France. The loss 
of life during their enforced construction, as well as 
the cruel taxation of the people, were hardly compen- i 
sated for in the subsequent pleasure their existence » 
returned. Of all the splendors in cascades, grottoes, j 
canals, and pools, the Basin of Apollo, at Versailles, i| 
