The Fonske is a statue in the center of the university town of Leuven, on Rector De Somer Square. His full name is Fons Sapientiae, Latin for Source of Wisdom. The Fonske is one of Jef Claerhout’s works and was donated to the city on the occasion of the 550th anniversary of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in 1975.
The sculpture depicts a student who, reading in a book, has wisdom running through his head in the form of water. But this explanation would have been given to the statue later. According to sculptor Claerhout, “It is a sculpture of someone who, pouring a lager into his cup, is studying his behavior.” Student organizations disagreed and felt it was a caricature of the drinking student. Therefore, the statue was renamed the “Well of Wisdom.”
Just like Manneken Pis in Brussels, Fonske is occasionally dressed up by associations that have something to celebrate. Leuven Fonskes are also chocolates on which the statue of the Fonske appears.