From the sublime to the ridiculous

We walked miles round the city of Brussels today, dodging squally and heavy rain showers. In the afternoon we took shelter under a shop canopy to escape a deluge when, believe it or not, the miserable so and so of a shop owner rolled in the canopy deliberately and forced us off to find a dry shelter elsewhere. We were fuming at such meanness.
This well known statue Mannekin Pis is regarded as an icon of the Brussels cultural heritage, alongside the Atomium and the Cathedral of Saint Michel.
The little statue was first created at the end of the Middle Ages, when the city was first developing a public water system.
Until the mid 19th Century this fountain played a major part in the drinking water supply system!
The original stone statue had been replaced in the 17th Century by this bronze, which was commissioned by the municipal authority from the sculptor Jerome Duquesnoy the Elder.
The original statue is now in the City museum.