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Salome.
The Fontana Maggiore, Perugia
http://www.gicas.net
The Fontana Maggiore, or Main Fountain, was built to
celebrate the construction of the aqueduct that brought
water to Perugia from the springs of Paciano, a mountain
about five miles from the city center. The aqueduct was
completed in 1278. The Fountain was built and decorated
by Nicola Pisano (1220-c.1280) and his son Giovanni
(1245-1320) between 1277 and 1278.
The Fontana Maggiore represents the masterpiece of
Perugia and it is one of the most interesting and
beautiful fountains of the 13th century anywhere. Its
decorations are undoubtedly focused towards the civic
values of man, his activities and accomplishments during
his life on earth.
The Fountain is composed of two polygonal basins, the
upper one with a smaller diameter. Over the upper basin
there is a bronze round vessel, seven feet in diameter,
with three bronze statues holding over their heads an
amphora from which water pours.
The middle basin is composed of several panels without
decoration. On each of the 24 angles where the panels
meet there is a small statue sculpted out of Carrara
white marble. It is a gallery of statues that presents
biblical personages, symbolic figures in addition to
real and mythical people of the history of Perugia and
of the world. Some of these sculptures represent well
established typological figures—as Moses, David,
Melchizedek and John the Baptist who pre-figure or
anticipate Christ. Others are figurae in malo—as Salomé
and the Traitor cleric (figure 12)—or figurae in bono,
as St. Ercolano, the good cleric (figure 6), etc. The
names of the statues with a brief caption are given
below.
The viewing of the middle basin sculptures should begin,
again on the side of Palazzo Vescovile, from the statue
of St. Peter and proceeding counterclockwise. Thus the
last statue of the cycle will be that of Victory.
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