The Swordfish

A swordfish as a weather vane, Piazza dell'Arsenale.
Un pescespada come banderuola, piazza dell'Arsenale.

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Post 3,626 of 3,665 - This blog will end on December 31st

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Our farewell / Il nostro saluto

Weather Vane

Weather vane, Palazzo Comunale (Town Hall), Piazza del Municipio.
Banderuola, Palazzo Comunale, Piazza del Municipio.

Rooster on the Roof

A slightly rusty weather vane on a roof in Piazza della Repubblica. (Already posted on Instagram)
A banderuola leggermente rugginosa su di un tetto in piazza della Repubblica. (Già pubblicato su Instagram)

Canon PowerShot SX50 HS

Somewhere in my junk room there is an old and heavy shoulder bag containing the slowly decaying bodies of two SLRs and a half dozen of their lenses. I feel no nostalgia for those costly and clumsy contraptions I once loved and revered: with the advent of the digital era I am a born again photagrapher, who now enjoys the practicality and the convenience of bridge cameras. Every few years I buy a new model of the same type and this summer was time to replace my Canon PowerShot SX20 with an SX50 HS. I know that some of you will turn up your nose at this choice, but I consider myself a lazy and not very demanding amateur.

To test my new zoom lens I am taking a shot at the weather vane on the top of the Town Hall turret.

The wide angle shows us a fishing boat in the “Darsena Vecchia” (Old Harbour), also known as “Pamiglione”.

See also: Three Years of PowerShots - Municipal Palace - Gone with the Wind? - Pamiglione
External links: Bridge camera (Wikipedia)

Versione italiana

Gone with the Wind?

Where is the weather vane that, until some time ago, proudly stood atop the bell tower of our Town Hall?Has it gone with the wind? (The same picture enlarged)

No, It Is Still There!
(Updated at 3:00 PM)
The weather vane is still there, defying the wind. The top picture was taken at a deceiving angle.

Versione italiana

Fides

On the weather vane on top of the Town Hall of Livorno we can see the Latin word “Fides” (trust). In 1496 Maximilian I, the Holy Roman Emperor, was at war with the Florentine Republic, so an imperial army laid siege to Livorno to cut Florence access to the sea, while a fleet blockaded the port. Hundreds of peasants from the boroughs aronnd the town, tired of past destruction, volunteered to join the defense.A legend says that a “villano” (peasant), Guerrino of Montenero, distinguished himself leading his men in the defence of the old fort. It seems that he even shot with a falconet the Emperor himself, barely missing and tearing one of his brocade sleeves. After three weeks of siege some unespected help came with a “libecciata” (gale force wind) that destroyed part of the imperial fleet and ravaged the camp of the assailants, leading the Emperor to end his siege.The grateful Florence gave the Livornesi the right to fly a standard with “Fides” written on it, a word that now shows up on every coat of arms of Livorno. A first monument “al villano” (to the peasant) was then erected at the bastion successfully defended by Guerrino and his men: the work represented a man with a dog, as a symbol of trust. The statue we see today is the third incarnation of the monument: it is a work of Vitaliano De Angelis and Giulio Guiggi and was erected in “Largo Fratelli Rosselli” in 1956 to replace a more ancient artifact lost in the last war.

See also: Town Hall
External links: Maximilian I - Holy Roman Emperor - Republic of Florence - Falconet (Wikipedia)

Versione italiana