Art & Places: Fontana del Pincio, Montagnola Park, Bologna, Italy
When I walked aimlessly along Via Dell’ Iindependenza from the Bologna Centrale (after I got myself lost in Firenze), I saw this beautiful steps with a fountain that leads to a park. I did not know what park it was because I just went where my feet took me. Only after I went home, I learned about the name of the park: Montagnola Park or Parco della Montagnola. The fountain is called Fontana del Pincio.
The fountain depicts a nymph on the back of a sea horse, both struggling against the embrace of an octopus in a big seashell. These elements are positioned in a lunette (semi-circle shaped space) with floral motifs. On the centre of the lunette, there is a mascaroni, or decorative keystone of a lion holding two shields that merged into one, which is actually Bologna’s state emblem. The lion’s head depicts a lion donated by Marquis Obizzo d’Este to the commune in 1293.
Looking at the sea nymph and the seashell, it reminded me of Boticelli’s painting ‘Birth of Venus’, you know the one standing on a seashell with no clothes on just her hair covering her private part. The elements of nymph, horse, seashell were among mythical elements commonly used during Early Florentine Renaissance period.
The fountain was sculpted by Diego Sarti and Pietro Veronesi in 1896, both were masters graduated from Academy of Fine Arts, Bologna. They also sculpted two bas-reliefs on both sides of the sculpture dedicated to the University of Bologna (Colombarini) and the free city (Sabbioni). The impressive staircase access to Montagnola Park was designed by Tito Azzolini and Attilio Muggia in 1892. The steps of the Pincio is equipped with 72 metal candelabra with six or four lamps.
Me standing at Parco Della Montagnola. Self-portrait, Nikon D40X with the help of a tripod and wireless remote control. Bologna, Marzo 2010
Information credit: http://www.bibliotecasalaborsa.it, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bologna
25 Comments
Insyirah
nice place. 😉
emila
Yes dear. I did not go round the park only near the steps area. It was under construction that time.
samdaddycool
Everything look nice except the trees.. togel takde daun (betapa tak bestnya winter)
soulie
macam scene dalam citer ‘once upon a time’
soulie
all white jer nampak…and cold hehe
soulie
senang amik gambar ada remote control!
emila
Memang a lot easier! Tak payah nak cakap bahasa Italy suruh orang ambilkan gambar haha
emila
Quite cold. I was already menggigil and my lips were almost bluish.
emila
Haah kan? Teringat cerita Narnia pun ia.
emila
Yes tak ada daun ;P Winter di Cape Town best. Tak ada salji pun. Pokok semua ada daun.
soulie
ahaa narnia pon yer jugak!
soulie
hahaha nk cakap italy soh amikkan gambar pon dah take few minutes.
soulie
pakai remote leh posing banyak kali!
samdaddycool
wah.. tak tau pun kat Cape Town, winter pokok ada daun
Mariuca
chop
Mariuca
I wish to go to Italia one day…… *dream*
Mariuca
Love that first shot! 🙂
emila
I love it too. But the lighting was not so good, looks gloomy. Abaden, it was around 6pm and the temperature was like 10 Degree Celcius.
emila
Me maybe will go again next year. This time I wanna visit art museums especially Uffizi in Florence as Boticelli’s original painting of ‘Birth of Venus’ is kept there.
emila
Winter di tak sehebat winter di negeri lain. Kalau nak snow kena pergi kawasan pergunungan.
emila
Haah betul 🙂
emila
Hahha that is why, daripada tergagap nak cakap Italy per favore cattura la mia foto, baik tangkap gambar sendiri.
Syuq
Wahhh.. k.em ada plan nak pergi lagi ye? Seronoknya!!! Mesti akan study dulu semua tempat sebelum pergi supaya tak tertinggal tempat2 yang menarik kan 🙂 Satu hari nanti harap saya pun akan pergi (^_^)
emila
InsyaAllah, kalau ada rezeki. Tahun depan nak promote lil guardian baru di Italy 😀
ainur roslan
mcm dlm movie..bestnyer