The route of fountains

Following a route on the subject of water is a theme that can seem peculiar in a city so rich in art, like Florence.
Nevertheless fountains are, besides a useful tool for citizens and tourists, an important means of urban decor if not works of art themselves.
So follow us on this extra fresh and artistic route to discover some of the city's fountains.

The street is busy and a little chaotic, and the Fonticine (small founts) on via Nazionale may go unnoticed. The fountain is imposing like a tabernacle and houses a glazed terracotta by Giovanni della Robbia, portraying the Madonna with child, San Giovannino and saints. At the base there are 7 little heads of putti, the small founts indeed, that throw water in a basin.

Some imaginary and terrible sea monsters tower over the base of the two twin fountains of piazza Santissima Annunziata. They are called Fontane del Cacciucco (fountains of the fish stew) and were made by Pietro Tacca between 1627 and 1629.

It is one of the city's landmarks:  we are talking about the Porcellino (piglet), in the fountain of the market loggia of the same name. It was always Pietro Tacca who created the bronze statue - the original is kept in the Museo Bardini - on a copy of a Roman marble statue. Beloved by tourists that touch its muzzle, all polished and shiny, the piglet is actually a wild boar.

Not far, on piazza Signoria, another symbol of Florence: the grand, monumental Fontana del Nettuno (fountain of Neptune) or "del Biancone". The big statue made with marble of the Apuan Alps portraying the sea god was created by Bartolomeo Ammannati in 1560: its iconography is reminiscent of Cosimo I's face. The fountain on the square is also populated by steeds, Nereids, satyrs and tritons, all placed in an octagonal tank.

Crossing the Arno river on the Ponte a Santa Trinita bridge you find a bizarre fountain, located on the corner between borgo San Jacopo and via dello Sprone: it is indeed called fontana dello Sprone (fountain of the acute angle) and depicts a grotesque marble mask that spits water in a welcoming tank; all of this is the work of Bernardo Buontalenti and it is above all the enhancement of the corner position that makes us include it in this - short - list.

Now that we are in the Oltrarno neighbourhood, let's go to a square, unusual for Florence,  with a fount in the middle and surrounded by trees: the fountain of piazza Santo Spirito served as a water supply for the popular neighbourhood. The 17th-century fountain is octagonal in shape.

Among the more contemporary works some recommendations, that can be extended to many other situations found in the various neighbourhoods of Florence.
We are on the edge of the historic centre, in what was the prison of Florence: at the Murate, on piazza Madonna della Neve, you can see one of the newest and oddest fountains: short and linear, it portrays the course of the Arno river in Florence and it is made of pietra serena and ceramic stoneware.

Echoing Gaudì's masterpieces is the fontana del Dragone, found in the panoramic Orto del Parnaso, accessible from via Trento with a breathtaking view of Florence. The fountain portrays a dragon, made with a mosaic of recycled materials by architect Dezzi Bardeschi; the work dates back to 1990.

On the other side of Florence, near the TuscanyHall theatre, is the adorable and unlucky statue of the rain man, by Jean Michel Folon. Poetic, as all the works of the Belgian artist are, the bronze sculpture where water itself acts as an umbrella for the stern gentleman is located in a roundabout on a very busy avenue.