PICTURES FROM ITALY (Est. 2001)
  • Private Tours
    • Private Tours of Rome
    • Private Tours of Florence
    • Private Tours of Venice
  • Contact
  • Rome
  • Vatican
  • Florence
  • Venice
  • Tuscany
  • Gallery
  • Year in Art
Private Tours of Florence

Spurning the Love of Women

12/4/2019

 
Walking Tours of Florence
The Fountain of Neptune, Piazza della Signoria, Florence
Neptune by Bartolomeo Ammannati

​When Bartolomeo Ammannati's statue of Neptune was first unveiled in Piazza della Signoria, the good people of Florence were less than impressed by what they saw, if the following ditty is anything to go by, "Ammannato, Ammannato, che bel marmo hai rovinato!" (Ammannato, Ammannato, what beautiful marble you have ruined!)

The year was 1565 and the statue, which was soon nicknamed Il Biancone (the white giant), stood on a high pedestal in the centre of the Fontana del Nettuno, the first major public fountain to be erected in Florence. 

To add insult to injury, the public promptly used the fountain as a washbasin for its dirty laundry! In 1720 a plaque was attached to the wall of the Palazzo Vecchio forbidding such use. The plaque is still there. 

In her book The Stones of Florence (1959), Mary McCarthy recounts the tale that Neptune, who was the god of the river Arno, had been turned into a statue because, like Michelangelo, he had spurned the love of women. 

The Fountain of Neptune, Piazza della Signoria, Florence
Fountain of Neptune
Fountain of Neptune, Piazza della Signoria, Florence
Fountain of Neptune

Comments are closed.

    Blogging about Florence:
    its art, history and culture.


    My name is David Lown and I am an art historian from Cambridge, England.

    Since 200I I have been living in Italy, where I run
    ​ private tours of Florence, Rome &
    Venice.


    Search Pictures From Italy:

    Blog Posts

    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018


Follow Pictures From Italy on Facebook

Private Tours of Rome, Florence & Venice

Copyright © David Lown 2001-2019. All Rights Reserved. 
  • Private Tours
    • Private Tours of Rome
    • Private Tours of Florence
    • Private Tours of Venice
  • Contact
  • Rome
  • Vatican
  • Florence
  • Venice
  • Tuscany
  • Gallery
  • Year in Art