Giovanni da Verrazzano monument - Providence, Rhode Island - Gifts from Other Countries on Waymarking.com

A monument honoring the 16th century mariner and explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano was given to the state of Rhode Island from the Italian cities of Carrara and Greve. Previously placed in downtown Providence's Memorial Park for nearly a century, it was relocated one mile west to the city's Federal Hill neighborhood at Saint John's Park on Atwells Avenue in 2020.

The monument is made of carved Carrara marble in two forms. Four oblong blocks serve as a base to elevate the main components off the ground a few inches. These supports measure about 20 inches long and eight inches square on the ends. (51 cm x 20 cm x 20 cm) They are entirely covered by carved textured patterns resembling stacked stone.

The main body is three similarly sized slabs each five feet wide, four feet tall, and six inches thick (150 cm x 120 cm x 15 cm) which stand on edge with one slab balanced above and across the others. The lower two are set in an acute angle with open space at the base and apex. The inside faces of the lower tablets are carved in the same motif as the base blocks. A bas-relief replica of Verrazzano's map covers the outer face of the north slab and a profile image of his vessel La Dauphine under sail faces south on the second bottom slab. The upper tablet is carved on its obverse with a larger than life cavo-rilievo of Verrazzano's head and his name engraved along the bottom edge. A small Latin inscription on the south edge reads "BINO BINI | FIRENZE". (I believe that translates as "Two by Two | Florence".) This upper stone is inscribed on the reverse:

TO
GIOVANNI DA VERRAZZANO
THE NAVIGATOR FROM ITALY
WHO IN 1524 CROSSED THE PERILOUS NORTHERN OCEAN
FIRST TO
BEHOLD THE COAST OF THE FUTURE UNITED STATES
CAST ANCHOR IN THIS BAY
EXPLORE ITS ISLANDS
ONE OF WHICH BECAUSE OF ITS SHAPE
HE CHRISTENED RHODES
NAME LATER EXTENDED TO THE ENTIRE STATE OF
RHODE ISLAND.
DONATED BY CARRARA, THE MARBLE CITY,
AND BY GREVE IN CHIANTI, WHERE
VERRAZZANO WAS BORN. IN PLEDGE OF EVER
GROWING FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THE AMERICAN
AND THE ITALIAN PEOPLES

The bay referenced above is Narragansett Bay, where he anchored some three miles to the southeast of this location. And the place he named "Rhodes", just beyond the mouth of Narragansett Bay about 40 miles south from here, is now known as Block Island.

Country or International City that Gave the Gift: Carrara and Greve, Italy Country or International City that Received the Gift: Rhode Island Website Verifying this Item as a Gift from Another Country or International City: Not listed

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