
At the Center of the Globe: Empiricism and Empire in Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's Fontaine des Quatres-Parties-du-monde
Author(s) -
Hoyon Mephokee
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
athanor
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2690-0181
pISSN - 0732-1619
DOI - 10.33009/fsu_athanor130246
Subject(s) - empire , empiricism , colonialism , globe , politics , humanities , conservatism , art , art history , history , ancient history , philosophy , political science , law , medicine , epistemology , ophthalmology
In 1874, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux’s (1827-1875) Les Quatre Parties du monde soutenant la sphère céleste (The Four Parts of the World Supporting the Celestial Sphere), also referred to as the Fontaine des quatre-parties-du-monde (Fountain of the Four Parts of the World), was installed at the southern end of the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris (Figure 1). By interrogating the Fontaine’s site and iconography vis-à-vis the Second French Empire, this paper demonstrates that the monument celebrated science as constitutive of French statecraft and empire-building and signaled the institutional relationship of science and politics that justified and support-ed French colonialism. Thus, the Fontaine reveals itself to be a powerful expression and agent of Napoléon III’s regime, as well as an embodiment of its contradictions; beneath the façade of objective and unbiased scientific empiricism, the Second Empire outwardly championed progressive ideals as it built and sustained itself on imperial and racial conservatism.