In Greek Mythology he is known as Poseidon, The God of the sea and believed to have created the horse, which is deemed by Greeks as the most beautiful animal the world had ever seen. Poseidon has a counterpart in the Romans own set of Gods wherein he is known to be Neptune, the powerful Lord of the sea. Neptune represents water and all things that have something to do with it. Maybe he is one of the inspirations on the creation of stunning fountains seen in many Rome water parks. There’s this fountain that truly represents the handsome and robust Lord of the sea, wherein its name truly suggest who it wants to honor. I am talking about the amazing Fountain of Neptune, a water fountain which can be found in Florence, Italy, and is standing proud on the Piazza della Signoria or Signoria Square. This Signoria Square is situated just in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. This was assigned to Bartolomeo Ammannati and some assistants from 1563-1565 and was specially made for the wedding of Francesco I de’ Medici with the grand duchess of Austria in 1565. Originally, the fountain was designed by Baccio Bandinelli but he passed away even before he got to chance to begin on the project.
The Neptune fountain, like any work of art in Rome watering parks signifies something. This water figure was intended to be an allusion to the authority of the Florentines over the sea and the fountain’s statue face happens to look like Cosimo I de’ Medici. The spectacular and gorgeous statue stands on a high platform in the center of an octagonal fountain where the pedestal in the middle is adorned with the mythological chained sculpture of Scylla and Charybdis. The center effigy is of Neptune, standing on top a rock as he battles a sea monster. Beside him at the border of the fountain sits two Naiads, one on each side, wherein one is smiling as she envelops herself around a swan that is spurting water out its mouth while the other is frowning with water gushing from her mouth, as she clasps onto the tail of another sea monster. Also, two seahorses are positioned in the middle. One is gently being led by a cheerful child while the other is feral, attempting to free itself of its rider. Numerous other smaller statues of imps beautify the fountain. There’s one playing with a crab, the other has a shell, one combating with a sea monster and another is venturing to climb onto a dolphin. Actually, the statue of Neptune is only a replica built in the nineteenth century, for the original is now kept in the National Museum.
However, the water fountain has endured an immense amount of damage throughout the centuries. It was even utilized as a washbasin for laundry at the end of the 16th century and wrecked on January 25, 1580. Also, satyr was stolen at the carnival in 1830 and was once again damaged by the Bourbon bombardments of 1848. Due to those incidents, this water feature, same with those in several Rome water parks, has been the subject of some restorations and replacements.