Strolling through the 7tharrondissement, you certainly wouldn't expect to come across a statue that looks like it's straight out ofAncient Egypt! And yet, on rue de Sèvres, not far from the Vaneau metro station, you'll find an anachronistic curiosity that's sure to intrigue passers-by: the Fontaine du Fellah.
Some people mistakenly believe it to represent a pharaoh, but in reality it's a more modest person, the name fellah more closely echoing a peasant, who can be seen holding two pouring amphorae, a reminder of the monument's function (although it is no longer in use today). The work is said to have been inspired by the statue of Antinous (Emperor Hadrian's favorite) as Osiris, discovered in the Villa Hadriana and now housed in the Vatican Museum.
But that doesn't explain what this Egyptian statue is doing in the heart of Paris. Unlike theLuxor Obelisk on the Place de la Concorde , which is an authentic relic ofancient Egypt, the Fontaine du Fellah is a neo-Egyptian work built in 1806. At the time, this style was in vogue in the capital following Napoleon Bonaparte's Egyptian campaign. The imperial emblem can also be seen on the top of the temple-shaped portal.
