François-Jean Bralle (11 January 1750 – 12 June 1832) was a French architect and engineer, best known as for the construction of fountains in Paris during the time of Napoleon Bonaparte. Bralle was commissioned to build fifteen new fountains in Paris, including the fontaine de Mars, the fontaine du Fellah, and the Fontaine du Palmier in the Place du Châtelet, which are still functioning today.
Bralle was a specialist in hydraulic engineering. During the French Revolution and under the French Consulate of Napoleon, he was named director of the machine de Marly, which pumped water from Seine to feed to fountains of the Gardens of Versailles. He was also in charge of the pumps of Chaillot, of Gros-Caillou, and La Samaritaine, which pumped water from the Seine to provide drinking water to the people of Paris.
On May 2, 1806, Napoleon issued the Decree of Saint Cloud, which began, "Beginning next July 1, water will flow from all the fountains of Paris day and night, in a manner to provide water not only for individual persons and the needs of the public, but also to refresh the atmosphere and to clean the streets."[1] The decree ordered that existing fountains be cleaned and put into working order and supplied with fresh water from aqueducts, that steam and hydraulic pumps be repaired, and that "In the city of Paris fifteen new fountains will be erected, for which the projects will be submitted to the Minister of the Interior."
The project of supplying water and building the fountains was given to Francois-Jean Bralle, who held the title of Chef du service des eaux de la Ville de Paris. He was given a budget of 540,000 francs in 1806 to build the fountains, and an additional sum of 80,000 francs was added in 1808 to finish the project.[2] Bralle in turn commissioned several different architects to design the fountains. Architects of new buildings, such as Gondoin, Brongniart and Vaudoyer, were commissioned to create new fountains in front of the new buildings they designed.
The fountains commissioned by Bralle under the May 2, 1806 decree were to be located at:
Fourteen of the fifteen fountains on the plan were constructed by Bralle between 1806 and 1808. They were built by many different architects, in many different styles, ranging from Egyptian to classical. They all shared the same problem; a shortage of water. Before the completion of the new canal Napoleon was building to bring water to Paris, the best they could provide was a thin stream of water from several different spouts; there was not enough water pressure to shoot water upwards.[3]
During the reconstructions of Paris that followed the French Empire, particularly during the Second French Empire of Napoleon III, several were demolished or moved to new locations. The most important of the fountains of Bralle still existing are: