Year of construction:
1984-1987
Design:
Jürgen Weber
Implementation:
Lenz Art Foundry
Location:
Depiction:
The fountain sculpture draws on the pictorial representations of Albrecht Dürer's woodcuts for Sebastian Brant's moral satire The Ship of Fools (1497).
The 3.60 m high bronze sculpture shows a small ship as a metaphor for the world threatened with destruction.
The expressively sculpted figures, which appear to be in motion, depict scenes such as Adam and Eve's expulsion from paradise, Adam and his murderous son Cain as a child, the allegory of violence, and other scenes from Brant's book.
The two banners surrounding the fountain make a reference to the present day as an appeal against environmental destruction, war, and violence.
History:
The fountain sculpture was created between 1984 and 1987 and was exhibited in Nuremberg in 1987. The patron Kurt Klutentreter (1910–2000) made the purchase possible. The sculpture was installed in its current location without water.
In 1990, efforts were made to complete the sculpture as a fountain in accordance with the artist's intention ("the ship should have overflowed like a fountain bowl and water should have bubbled out of the figureheads, the crow, and the wine glass").
Klutentreter had agreed to cover the estimated costs of DM 300,000. Unfortunately, the city council's cultural committee, advised by the advisory board for fine arts, rejected the donation and the completion of the fountain.
Reference:
Kurt Klutentreter: Rund um das Narrenschiff. Erinnerungen eines etablierten 77 Jahre alten Nürnberger „Trottels“. Fast ein Roman. Papyrus, Nürnberg 1988, 416 S.
Jürgen Weber: Das Narrenschiff. Kunst ohne Kompass. Autobiographie, Universitas Verlag, München 1994, 480 S.
Wikipedia: https://de.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Narrenschiffbrunnen_
(Nürnberg)