Description
The Fountain of Neptune is the monumental fountain in Piazza Unità d'Italia, in Messina, in front of the Prefecture and a stone's throw from the sea. The sea god, in marble, towers over the monsters of the Strait, Scylla and Charybdis, chained at his feet.
It was carved by Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli, a collaborator of Michelangelo, and completed in 1557: it is the oldest of Italy's three great Neptune fountains, earlier than those of Bologna and Florence.
In the center, seated beside a dolphin, is Neptune: in his left hand he grips the trident, with his right arm outstretched he calms the waves. He seems to have just risen from the water, calm and invincible.
On the sides of the pedestal writhe Scylla and Charybdis, the two sea monsters of the Strait, here shown as women. The message is clear: the city overcomes adversity, as the god tames the sea.
All around, the base is a catalog of sea creatures: four sea horses, grotesque masks, shells, dolphins entwined on the trident and lions that collect the water. On the rim of the basin you can still read the sculptor's signature.
The statues in the square, however, are 19th-century copies. In 1848, during the revolution, Bourbon shelling damaged Neptune and Scylla, which were remade by Gregorio Zappalà in 1856 and by Letterio Subba in 1858.
The originals are kept at the Regional Museum of Messina, where you can see them up close. In that same revolution, the bronze statues of the Bourbon kings added to the fountain in the 18th and 19th centuries had been melted down for bullets.
Originally the fountain stood on the harbor quays, in front of the Palazzata and near the Town Hall, with its back to the sea. Perhaps the god was thus offering the city the riches of the sea; according to a popular tradition, though, he turned his back on the Calabrians to mock them.
The 1908 earthquake, which damaged the Fountain of Orion, left Neptune almost intact. In 1934 the prefect had it moved a little farther north, to the Prefecture square, and turned 180 degrees: since then Neptune has faced the sea.
Don't miss
• Neptune with the trident.
• Scylla and Charybdis in chains.
• The originals at the Regional Museum.
Did you know?
• The fountain was once aligned with Montorsoli's two other works in Messina, the Fountain of Orion and the Lanterna di San Raineri, the harbor lighthouse.
• Until 1908 the original statue of Neptune was kept in the church of Santa Maria Alemanna.
It was carved by Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli, a collaborator of Michelangelo, and completed in 1557: it is the oldest of Italy's three great Neptune fountains, earlier than those of Bologna and Florence.
In the center, seated beside a dolphin, is Neptune: in his left hand he grips the trident, with his right arm outstretched he calms the waves. He seems to have just risen from the water, calm and invincible.
On the sides of the pedestal writhe Scylla and Charybdis, the two sea monsters of the Strait, here shown as women. The message is clear: the city overcomes adversity, as the god tames the sea.
All around, the base is a catalog of sea creatures: four sea horses, grotesque masks, shells, dolphins entwined on the trident and lions that collect the water. On the rim of the basin you can still read the sculptor's signature.
The statues in the square, however, are 19th-century copies. In 1848, during the revolution, Bourbon shelling damaged Neptune and Scylla, which were remade by Gregorio Zappalà in 1856 and by Letterio Subba in 1858.
The originals are kept at the Regional Museum of Messina, where you can see them up close. In that same revolution, the bronze statues of the Bourbon kings added to the fountain in the 18th and 19th centuries had been melted down for bullets.
Originally the fountain stood on the harbor quays, in front of the Palazzata and near the Town Hall, with its back to the sea. Perhaps the god was thus offering the city the riches of the sea; according to a popular tradition, though, he turned his back on the Calabrians to mock them.
The 1908 earthquake, which damaged the Fountain of Orion, left Neptune almost intact. In 1934 the prefect had it moved a little farther north, to the Prefecture square, and turned 180 degrees: since then Neptune has faced the sea.
Don't miss
• Neptune with the trident.
• Scylla and Charybdis in chains.
• The originals at the Regional Museum.
Did you know?
• The fountain was once aligned with Montorsoli's two other works in Messina, the Fountain of Orion and the Lanterna di San Raineri, the harbor lighthouse.
• Until 1908 the original statue of Neptune was kept in the church of Santa Maria Alemanna.