One of the symbols of Bologna. The statue is the work of the Flemish Jean de Boulogne (1529-1608) who became known to all as Giambologna. The original model for making the statue is exhibited in the nearby Medieval Civic Museum.
The work was created at the behest of the Pope’s legate Bartolomeo Cesi, who in 1563 called Tommaso Laureti from Palermo to Bologna to entrust him with the task of designing the fountain. Laureti proved to be decisive: in addition to calling Giambologna for the execution of the statue of Neptune, he took care of the entire complex water system to bring the water, he elaborated the mythological iconography and designed the decorative parts, as evidenced by his drawings today preserved in some European museums.
Curiosity: the Neptune of Bologna has four replicas in the world: in Palos Verdes in California; in Laeken, a suburb of Brussels; in Batumi, a city in Georgia on the Black Sea and finally outside the Kure naval museum (the Yamato Museum) near Hiroshima in Japan.
The trident held by Giambologna’s Neptune also became the symbol of Maserati Auto, which was born in Bologna and only later moved to Modena.
The photo shows one of the four reproductions of the Neptune Fountain mentioned above, in particular this one is located in Batumi, Georgia.
