Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Theme Day: Fountains

Sea monsters fountain by Pietro Tacca, copy, LivornoThis is one of the two Sea Monsters fountains by Pietro Tacca, the same sculptor of our Four Moors.Sea monsters fountain by Pietro Tacca, copy, LivornoThese are obviously recent copies of the originals, made after the last war. In fact, a legend says that the Grand Duke Ferdinando II liked so much the fountains made for Livorno, that he had them installed in “Piazza Santissima Annunziata”, in Florence.

See also: Sea Monsters - Four Moors


29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ancient forces.

Impressive a sculpture indeed. Please have a good new month.


daily athens

Stefan Jansson said...

Now that is what I call a cool fountain.

Michelle said...

Such expression in the face!

Jack said...

Those are really interesting fountains. Like Farmchick says, the expressions are strong and capture one's atttention.

Kate said...

Very strong sculptures showing well-defined actions.

Leif Hagen said...

Some fun, whimsical water fountains! Great water creatures for theme day, VP!

Jim said...

That's a great fountain.
Sydney - City and Suburbs

Randy said...

I little spooky but perfect for theme day!

Luis Gomez said...

Great looking fountains!

Hilda said...

I've always liked these sea monsters of yours. I no longer know why, but I always think of the now-defunct TV series "The X-Files" whenever I see them.

Small City Scenes said...

Very neat sea Monsters, kinda like something from Star Trek. MB

cieldequimper said...

I'm not surprised he did. Very expressive faces.

Jilly said...

This is so beautiful and shows up so wonderfully against the coloured wall.

Traveling Hawk said...

Great characters of the fountain! I think that Italy offered me the best selection of fountains I have seen.

Francisca said...

Definitely a unique fountain, even if there a number of copies of them. Maybe my brain is not focusing, but in looking at your past posts, I could still not discern which one was the original...?

Dina said...

So they were a long time in coming to Livorno. But these sea monsters are worth waiting for.

brattcat said...

This makes me want to commit to moderation in all things.

VP said...

@ Francisca - Every fountain has two sea monsters, there are two original fountains in Florence and two copies in Livorno.

Unknown said...

Love the sea monsters and the contrast to the background.

Lois said...

Nice fountain, but they look a little angry to me!

Halcyon said...

We know you don't have any shortage of fountains in Livorno. This is a really nice one. Those devils look pretty intense on their spitting!

joo said...

They are superb! I especially love the second photo.

Birdman said...

LOVE gargoyles. This is a neat one, up close NOT hanging off a cathedral.

Cezar and Léia said...

Looks so REAL ! :)
Very impressive sculpture in this fountain!
Léia

Rob Siemann said...

Excellent!!!

Mo said...

Ate something he didn't like?

Saretta said...

I do love fountains that spit or pee! Hee hee!

Babzy.B said...

A great sculpture !

EG CameraGirl said...

Lots of detail in these fountains!