Fountain of Neptune - Messina, Italy
Posted by: neoc1
N 38° 11.962 E 015° 33.474
33S E 548849 N 4228082
The Fountain of Neptune is a Renaissance fountain located on the waterfront at Via Garibaldi and the Piazza dell'Unità d'Italia in Messina, Italy
Waymark Code: WM11TNG
Location: Sicilia, Italy
Date Posted: 12/18/2019
Views: 1
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The Neptune fountain contains sculptures of Neptune flanked by the monsters of Greek mythology Scylla and Charibdes. The marble fountain was commissioned Senate of Messina and was created in 1557 by Florentine sculptor Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli.
The central figure is a monumental sculpture of the Roman god of the sea, Neptune. He is standing naked on top of an ornate platform in the center of an oval basin. His right hand is outstretched forward and he holds a trident, vertically, in his left hand.
He is flanked by the two marine monsters of Greek mythology Scylla and Charybdis. Due to the fact that the Strait of Messina was a perilous passage for ships because they could be attacked from either shore or caught in a whirlpool Greek mythology envisioned to sea monsters, Scylla and Charibdes, that would attack ships passing through the Strait of Messina.