Apennine Colossus

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Apennine Colossus
Italian: Colosso dell'Appennino
Apennine Colossus panorama (81988p).jpg
Colossus of Apennine
Apennine Colossus
ArtistJean de Boulogne, a.k.a. Giambologna
Completion datelate 1580s
MediumStone
Dimensions11 meters(36 feet)
Location Vaglia, Italy
Coordinates 43°51′34.1″N11°18′16.4″E / 43.859472°N 11.304556°E / 43.859472; 11.304556

The Apennine Colossus (Italian : Colosso dell'Appennino) is a stone statue, approximately 11 meters high, [1] in the estate of the Villa Demidoff in Vaglia, Tuscany, Italy. Giambologna (Flemish sculptor Jean de Boulogne) created the colossal figure, a personification of the Apennine mountains, in the late 1580´s. It was constructed on the grounds of the Villa di Pratolino, a Renaissance villa that fell into disrepair and was replaced by the Villa Demidoff in the 1800´s. [2]

Contents

Description

The colossus is about 11 metres (36 ft) high [1] and is meant as a personification of the Apennine Mountains. [3] [4] It was the water source for the Pratolino, [5] its fountains and secret water plays. [6] The colossus has the appearance of an elderly man crouched at the shore of a lake [7] and is surrounded by other sculptures depicting mythological themes from Ovid's Metamorphoses including Pegasus, Parnassus or Jupiter. [8] It is presumed that Giambologna was inspired by the description of a mountain-like Atlas in Ovid's Metamorphoses, when he designed the figure of Apennine. [8] Other sources cite the Atlas as described in the Aeneid of the Roman poet Virgil as an inspiration. [9] With his left hand in front of him, the Apennine seems to squeeze the head of a sea monster [7] through whose open mouth water emanates into the pond ahead of the statue. [10] The stone colossus is depicted naked, with stalactites in the thick beard [10] and long hair to show the metamorphosis of man and mountain, blending his body with the surrounding nature, populated by aquatic vegetation. [11] The statue is described to originally have been emerging from its environment [12] like being alive. The giant was able to sweat and weep over a network of water pipes. [5] In the winter season, icicles would cover his body. [5] The work was made of stone and plaster and appearing to be partially covered with moss and lichens. [11]

Within the giant exist a series of chambers and caves on three levels. [5] In the ground floor of the colossus exists a cave [13] containing an octagonal fountain dedicated to the Greek goddess Thetys. [14] The Italian painter Jacopo Ligozzi adorned the Grotto de Thetys [15] with frescos of villages from the Mediterranean coast of Tuscany in 1586. [16] In other chambers mining scenes based on the book De re metallica by the mineralogist Georgius Agricola were to be seen. [17] In the giant's upper floor is a chamber big enough for a small orchestra and in the head a small chamber holds a fireplace out of which the smoke would escape through his nostrils. [10] The chamber in the head had slits in the ears and the eyes. [7] Francesco I de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, enjoyed fishing while sitting in the head chamber, throwing the fishing line through one of the eye slits. [5] At night the chamber was illuminated with torches, following which the eyes appeared to glow in the dark. [5] Initially, the back of the Colossus was protected by a structure resembling a cave, as seen on an etching by Stefano della Bella. [18] [14] As Giambologna was an admirer of the Italian sculptor Michelangelo the cave-like structure was also compared with Michelangelo's style of the non-finito. [4] On top of it, there was a terrace. [5] The cave-resembling structure was demolished around 1690 by the sculptor Giovan Battista Foggini, who also built a statue of a dragon [19] to adorn the back of the colossus. [5] The dragon was described to have been a fountain, but it is assumed the dragon's belly was transformed into a fireplace while the dragon's neck and head had the function of its chimney. [20] In 1876, the Italian sculptor Rinaldo Barbetti renovated the statue. [21]

Location and ownership

The Pratolino is located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north of Florence at the foot of the Apennine mountain range. [22] In it, there is a rectangular square called the Prato del Appennino, situated in front of the colossus. [14]

After Francesco de' Medici's death in 1587 and that of his wife Bianca Capello the next day, [23] the villa and its surroundings fell into decay. [11] The Villa di Pratolino was demolished in 1822 [11] and in 1872, the heirs of Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, sold the estate [12] to the Demidoff family who built their own villa on it. [7] In 1981, the Villa Demidoff was purchased by the Province of Florence [24] and today the park and its giant are accessible to the public. [12]

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References

  1. 1 2 Morgan, Luke (2015), p.12
  2. ↑ Smith, Webster (1 December 1961). "Pratolino". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians . 20 (4): 155–168. doi:10.2307/988039. ISSN   0037-9808. JSTOR   988039.
  3. ↑ Morgan, Luke (2015). "The Monster in the Garden | Luke Morgan". www.upenn.edu. p. 3. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  4. 1 2 Möseneder, Karl (1985). "Werke Michelangelos als Movens ikonographischer Erfindung". Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz. 29 (2/3): 352–353. ISSN   0342-1201. JSTOR   27653166.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Steadman, Philip (2021). "The 'garden of marvels' at Pratolino". Renaissance Fun. The machines behind the scenes. UCL Press. p. 290. doi:10.2307/j.ctv18msqmt.16. ISBN   978-1-78735-916-1. JSTOR   j.ctv18msqmt.16. S2CID   241909486 . Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  6. ↑ Steadman, Philip (2021), pp. 286–287
  7. 1 2 3 4 Rubboli, Matteo (3 February 2020). "Il Colosso dell'Appennino: la Gigantesca Statua Dimenticata alle Porte di Firenze". Vanilla Magazine (in Italian). Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  8. 1 2 Hunt, John Dixon (15 February 2016). Garden and Grove: The Italian Renaissance Garden in the English Imagination, 1600–1750. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 55. ISBN   978-0-8122-9278-7.
  9. ↑ Morgan, Luke (2015) p. 9
  10. 1 2 3 Ilya (11 May 2013). "The Appennine Colossus". Unusual Places. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Ricupati, Daniela (10 November 2021). "Il Colosso dell'Appennino di Giambologna". Il Giardino della Cultura (in Italian). Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  12. 1 2 3 "Gardens in Tuscany | Villa di Pratolino | Parco Villa Demidoff". www.travelingintuscany.com. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  13. ↑ Steadman, Philip (2021), p. 291
  14. 1 2 3 Smith, Webster (1961). "Pratolino". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians . 20 (4): 156. doi:10.2307/988039. ISSN   0037-9808. JSTOR   988039.
  15. ↑ Tantardini, Lucia; Norris, Rebecca (2020). Lomazzo's Aesthetic Principles Reflected in the Art of his Time: With a Foreword by Paolo Roberto Ciardi, an Introduction by Jean Julia Chai, and an Afterword by Alexander Marr. Brill. p. 17. ISBN   978-90-04-43510-0.
  16. ↑ Hirschboeck, Martin (2014). "Jacopo Ligozzi, An allegory of virtue" (PDF). p. 29. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  17. ↑ Steadman, Philip (2021) pp.293–294
  18. ↑ Massar, Phyllis D. (1968). "Presenting Stefano della Bella". The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin . 27 (3): 174. doi:10.2307/3258383. ISSN   0026-1521. JSTOR   3258383.
  19. ↑ "Rilievo e modellazione del Gigante dell'Appennino nel parco di Pratolino | geomaticaeconservazione.it". www.geomaticaeconservazione.it. Archived from the original on 16 January 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  20. ↑ Steadman, Philip (2021), pp. 290–291
  21. ↑ "Barbetti Rinaldo". Recta Galleria d'arte – Roma (in Italian). Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  22. ↑ Steadman, Philip (2021), p. 279
  23. ↑ Steadman, Philip (2021), p. 315
  24. ↑ "Russi in Italia: dizionario - Russi in Italia". www.russinitalia.it. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
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