Fountain of Neptune (Messina)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fountain of Neptune in Messina
Reconstructed Scylla, Messina Fountain of Neptune
Skylla rear view, Messina fountain of Neptune

The Neptune Fountain ( Fontana del Nettuno in Italian ) in Messina was created in 1557 by the sculptor Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli , a pupil of Michelangelo . The fountain is on the Piazza dell'Unità d'Italia, not far from the city's coastal promenade next to the boat harbor. The client was the city of Messina after they also had the Orion Fountain in Montorsoli made. Immediately after completing the fountain opposite the cathedral, Montorsoli set to work on the Neptune fountain.

The fountain represents Neptune on a pedestal standing at his feet Scylla and Charybdis crouching on rocks represent. Scylla and Charybdis are figures showing an allegory of the Strait of Messina pose. "On the right, Skylla holds the beach, on the left, Charybdis rages without mercy", says Virgil (Aen.III, 420 Ovid's Metamorphoses XIII p. 730ff.) It is said that a number of seafarers perished in the strait between Sicily and mainland Italy , including the seafarer Odysseus. But the monsters are tamed in chains by the god of the sea, which speaks for a safe crossing.

The fountain was badly damaged by cannon fire during the unrest against the Bourbon rule in 1848 and had to be restored by Letterio Subba and Gregorio Zappalà . The original step-shaped base was dispensed with and replaced with an octagonal base. The current statues of the fountain are copies from the 19th century; the originals are now in the National Museum, built in 1914. Until 1934, the fountain stood a bit apart on the so-called Palazzata at the harbor.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Karl Möseneder: Montorsoli. The wells . Mäander-Kunstverlag, Mittenwald 1979, ISBN 3-88219-056-6 , p. 97-127 .

Coordinates: 38 ° 11 ′ 58 ″  N , 15 ° 33 ′ 29 ″  E