![]() A pamphlet published the same year recounts this episode. It survived undamaged the bombardment of Brussels of 1695 by the French army, but the pipes having been affected, it could not deliver its water for some time. 17th–19th centuries View of the Fountain of Manneken Pis, etching by Jacobus Harrewijn from Les délices des Pays-Bas, 1697ĭuring its history, Manneken Pis faced many hazards. During that time, the column supporting the statue and the double rectangular basin collecting water were completely remodelled by the stone cutter Daniel Raessens. It was probably cast and installed in 1620. This 55.5-centimetre-tall (21.9 in) bronze statue, on the corner of the Rue de l'Étuve/ Stoofstraat and the Rue des Grands Carmes/ Lievevrouwbroerstraat, was conceived by the Brabantine sculptor Jérôme Duquesnoy the Elder (1570–1641), father of the architect and sculptor Jérôme Duquesnoy the Younger and the famous sculptor François Duquesnoy. The first statue was replaced by a new bronze version, commissioned in 1619 by Brussels' city council. Manneken Pis is depicted again in a painting from 1616 by the court painters Denis Van Alsloot and Antoon Sallaert representing Brussels' Ommegang of 1615, as well as in a preparatory drawing to this painting, in which it is dressed as a shepherd. ![]() ![]() The only representations of this first statue can be found, very schematically, on a map by the cartographers Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg, in which the fountain appeared to be installed directly on the street and not on a corner as it is today. It stood on a column and poured water into a double rectangular basin of stone. From the beginning, the fountain played an essential role in the distribution of drinking water. The earliest mention of the existence of Manneken Pis can be found in an administrative document from 1451–52 about the water lines supplying the fountains of Brussels. Manneken Pis (bottom right) is dressed for the occasion. History Origins of Manneken Pis Detail from The Ommegang in Brussels on ( Denis Van Alsloot, 1616). Due to its long history, the statue is also sometimes dubbed le plus vieux bourgeois de Bruxelles ("the oldest bourgeois of Brussels") in French. This stems from a confusion by the 19th-century historians Alexandre Henne and Alphonse Wauters, who mistook the two well-distinct fountains because of their proximity. Manneken Pis is sometimes given the nickname of Petit Julien in French or Julianske in Dutch (both meaning "Little Julien"), which in fact refers to a now-disappeared fountain of the "Little Julien" ( Juliaenkensborre). Nowadays, the name Manneken Pis ( Dutch, pronounced "Little Pissing Man" also used in English) is official in both French and Dutch. In fact, in the Brabantian dialect of Brussels (known as Brusselian, and also sometimes referred to as Marols or Marollien), een manneke means a small man, whereas een menneke means a little boy (it is the diminutive of men, meaning boy), though in modern Flemish (the local variant of Dutch), menneke also means a small man (it is synonymous to mannetje). The original name of the statue was Menneke Pis or Menneke Pist. This site is served by the premetro (underground tram) station Bourse/Beurs (on lines 3 and 4), as well as the bus stop Grand-Place/ Grote Markt (on lines 33, 48 and 95). Manneken Pis is approximately five minutes' walk from the Grand-Place/Grote Markt (Brussels' main square), at the junction of the Rue du Chêne/ Eikstraat and the pedestrian Rue de l'Étuve/ Stoofstraat. 'Belgianness'), as well as of folk humour ( zwanze) popular in Brussels. Due to its self-derisive nature, it is also an example of belgitude ( French lit. The figure is regularly dressed up and its wardrobe consists of around one thousand different costumes. It is one of the best-known symbols of Brussels and Belgium, inspiring many imitations and similar statues. Since 1965, a replica has been displayed with the original stored in the Brussels City Museum. Manneken Pis has been repeatedly stolen or damaged throughout its history. Its stone niche in rocaille style dates from 1770. ![]() Though its existence is attested as early as the mid-15th century, it was redesigned by the Brabantine sculptor Jérôme Duquesnoy the Elder and put in place in 1618 or 1619. Manneken Pis ( Dutch for 'Little Pissing Man' Dutch: i) is a landmark 55.5 cm (21.9 in) bronze fountain sculpture in central Brussels, Belgium, depicting a puer mingens a naked little boy urinating into the fountain's basin.
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