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[ Home > Page 4: The Bartholdi Fountain, Part 2 ]
Page 4: The Bartholdi Fountain, Part 2 ![Page 4: The Bartholdi Fountain, Part 2]()
At the close of the Exhibition, the fountain was purchased for $6,000 (half of its estimated value) by the United States government at the suggestion of Frederick Law Olmsted, the famous landscape architect who designed the Capitol Grounds. It was moved to Washington, D.C., in 1877 and placed at the base of Capitol Hill near the center line of the Mall, on what was then the Botanic Garden grounds. When it was created, the fountain fused modern gas-lighting and cast-iron technologies with water and was intended to allegorically represent Light and Water. Bartholdi saw this work as symbolically appropriate for the modern city, and he hoped that many cities throughout the country would purchase castings. Actually only Reims, France, acquired one in 1885, and it is no longer extant. The gas lamps made the fountain a popular attraction since it was one of the first monuments in the city of Washington to be brightly illuminated at night. The lights surrounding the basin were added in 1886, and the round glass globes replaced the original gas fixtures when the fountain was fitted for electric lighting in 1915. During the 1927 relocation of the Botanic Garden, the fountain was dismantled and stored. In 1932, it was re-erected in its present location. The park where the fountain stands was renamed in honor of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi in 1985. The Bartholdi Fountain was restored in 1986. The rusted supporting bolts and rods and the plumbing and wiring were replaced. Dozens of layers of paint were sandblasted from the cast-iron surface, which was then given a new protective coating. The basins were repaired and leveled so that the water now falls evenly. The top coat of paint was renewed in 1996.
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