At the Center of the Globe: Empiricism and Empire in Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's Fontaine des Quatres-Parties-du-monde

In 1874, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux’s (1827-1875) Les Quatre Parties du monde soutenant la sphère céleste (The Four Parts of the World Supporting Celestial Sphere), also referred to as Fontaine des quatre-parties-du-monde (Fountain World), was installed at southern end Luxembourg Gardens in Paris (Figure 1). By interrogating Fontaine’s site and iconography vis-à-vis Second French Empire, this paper demonstrates that monument celebrated science constitutive statecraft empire-building signaled institutional relationship politics justified support-ed colonialism. Thus, reveals itself be a powerful expression agent Napoléon III’s regime, well an embodiment its contradictions; beneath façade objective unbiased scientific empiricism, Empire outwardly championed progressive ideals it built sustained on imperial racial conservatism.