Fontaine Subé, Fountain on Place Drouet-d'Erlon, Reims, France

Fontaine Subé stands on Place Drouet-d'Erlon in central Reims, a 17-metre column garlanded with vine, built of Corgoloin and Chassignelles stone. Seated statues at the corners of the middle block surround it, and water spouts from openings into a low curved basin. A gilded winged figure holding a staff stands on a golden sphere at the top.

A wealthy donor funded the construction of this fountain in the early 20th century, replacing an older statue. The work was later damaged by wartime events and received a new crowning figure.

The four river figures are crowned by a gilded Victory, La Gloire, made by Jean Barat in 1989 after a design by Bernard Fouqueray, inspired by a small bronze by Paul Gatz. The Suippe is engraved there in its old spelling "Suippes". The column itself is wreathed in vine, a nod to the vineyards around Reims.

The fountain stands on Place Drouet-d'Erlon, a pedestrian square in central Reims, so it can be walked around on foot from all sides. Its low curved basin and pale stone base are at street level, with no steps to climb. The gilded figure at the top is best seen from a short distance back.

The gilded winged figure now on top is not the fountain's original crowning element: it is La Gloire, a Victory by sculptor Jean Barat placed in 1989 on the initiative of Reims architect Bernard Fouqueray, inspired by a small bronze by Paul Gatz. The bronze removed in 1942 has never returned.