Mercury fountain

This article is about fountains using liquid metallic mercury. For the bronze Mercury Fountain at Oxford University, see Tom Quad. For the stone statue in Mexico, see Fountain of Mercury.

A mercury fountain is a fountain constructed for use with liquid metallic mercury ("quicksilver") rather than water.

Mercury fountains existed in some castles in Islamic Spain; the most famous one was located at the Kasr-al-Kholaifa in Córdoba.^{[ citation needed ]}

Calder's Mercury Fountain

Calder's fountain of mercury at the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona

The most well-known modern example is a sculpture designed by the American artist Alexander Calder, commissioned by the Spanish Republican government for the 1937 World Exhibition in Paris. The artwork is a memorial to the siege of Almadén by General Franco's troops; at the time, the region supplied 60 percent of the world's mercury. ^[1]

Alexander Calder, pictured with Mercury Fountain and Pablo Picasso's Guernica in 1937

The fountain was a sculptural counterpart to Guernica , Pablo Picasso's protest against Spanish Civil War atrocities. Calder's Mercury Fountain is now at the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona, displayed behind glass to control toxic mercury vapors. ^{[1] [2]}

References

1. Jessop, Tara (2016-08-08). "Calder Mercury Fountain: The World's Most Beautiful Yet Deadly Monument". Culture Trip. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
2. "Calder Around the World". Calder Foundation. Retrieved 19 May 2025.

External links

• Photos of Calder's Mercury Fountain by Mary Ann Sullivan
• Video of Calder's Mercury Fountain in installation context
• Closeup video of flow in Calder's Mercury Fountain