Design for a fountain basin with two statues in front of a Baroque garden building

Translation of the original title: Prospect of a garden building together with a basin upon which two statues draw in a net wrought of copper
Engraving, Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, from: Entwurf einer historischen Architektur, Book IV, plate XIX, Vienna, 1721

There are no holds barred for the imagination when creating  the figural adornment of decorative fountains in the Baroque period. Here, Fischer von Erlach has designed two monumental figures who are drawing a netted dolphin out of the water. By placing the figures outside the basin he thus establishes a seamless transition between water and earth.