Wikipedia (
visit link) tells us about the scultpure:
"Manneken Pis...(literally Little Man Pee in Marols, a Dutch dialect spoken in Brussels, also known in French as le Petit Julien), is a famous Brussels landmark. It is a small bronze fountain sculpture depicting a naked little boy urinating into the fountain's basin. It was designed by Jerome Duquesnoy and put in place in 1618 or 1619. It bears a similar cultural significance as Copenhagen's Little Mermaid...
The famous statue is located at the junction of Rue de l'Étuve/Stoofstraat and Rue du Chêne/Eikstraat. To find it, one takes the left lane next to the Brussels Town Hall from the famous Grand Place and walks a few hundred metres to arrive at the spot. The statue will be on the left corner...
The 61 cm tall bronze statue on the corner of Rue de l'Etuve and Rue des Grands Carmes was made in 1619 by Brussels sculptor Hieronimus Duquesnoy. The figure has been repeatedly stolen; the current statue is a copy from 1965. The original is kept at the Maison du Roi/Broodhuis on the Grand Place.
There are several legends behind this statue, but the most famous is the one about Duke Godfrey III of Leuven. In 1142, the troops of this two-year-old lord were battling against the troops of the Berthouts, the lords of Grimbergen, in Ransbeke (now Neder-over-Heembeek). The troops put the infant lord in a basket and hung the basket in a tree to encourage them. From there, the boy urinated on the troops of the Berthouts, who eventually lost the battle."
Note that the statue is periodically clothed in different costumes. The default photo of the statue posted with this waymark is from the Wikipedia article mentioned above. The other photos were taken in October 2011 and show the statue dressed as a janitor.
Another sign at the site indicates how the statue will be dressed in future months.
The official tourism site (
visit link) adds:
"Rather bizarre but very cute, the little boy statue nonchalantly pissing into a pool is Brussels’ star attraction. Created in the 17th century by a J Duquesney, the bronze statue has alternately pissed (pardon the pun) and delighted many and has been subjected to the moods and whims of an arbitrary audience. He has been dressed in a variety of outfits, vandalized, kidnapped by both the British and French, and smashed to pieces. The collection of outfits worn by Mannekin Piss is on display in the Museum of the City of Brussels."
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