Description
The Fonte Gaia is the monumental fountain of Piazza del Campo in Siena: a rectangular basin of white marble, open toward the Palazzo Pubblico, with reliefs of the Madonna, the Virtues and scenes from Genesis.
It was the city's first great public fountain. The version you see in the square dates from the nineteenth century; Jacopo della Quercia's originals are kept safe in the museum.
The name comes from the joy of the Sienese. When in 1346 water first gushed out in the square, the city celebrated, and from that spontaneous gaiety the nickname was born.
Behind it lay an impressive hydraulic work: a tunnel about thirty kilometers long, with a "bottino maestro", that is, a large cistern, improved in the fifteenth century by Francesco di Giorgio.
In 1409 the commune commissioned the decoration from Jacopo della Quercia, who completed it ten years later, in 1419.
On the two short sides are the Creation of Adam and the Expulsion from Paradise; on the long side, in the center, the Madonna and Child enthroned, surrounded by Virtues and Angels.
The figures seem to sink into and re-emerge from the oval edge of the panels, as in a circular movement. For its time it was a freedom of composition and a vitality entirely new, even if the theme, moral and religious, was the usual one.
But the marble chosen was fragile: the stone of the Montagnola Senese, exposed to everyday life in the square, soon deteriorated. In 1743 a man climbed one of the two statues, Rea Silvia, to see the Palio better. The statue fell to pieces, and he died.
In 1859 it was decided to replace the fountain with a copy in Carrara marble, more durable, entrusted to the Sienese sculptor Tito Sarrocchi and inaugurated ten years later.
He often had to recreate the reliefs almost from scratch, starting from worn fragments. The fountain was also moved to a more central position and protected by a railing by Giuseppe Partini.
The remains of the originals, restored, were displayed from 1904 to 1989 in the Loggia dei Nove of the Palazzo Pubblico, and can now be seen in the Santa Maria della Scala, beside Sarrocchi's casts and plasters.
Don't miss
• The Creation of Adam and the Expulsion from Paradise.
• The Madonna and Child among Virtues and Angels.
• Jacopo's original marbles, at the Santa Maria della Scala.
Did you know?
• The basin steps down following the slope of the square.
• The statues of Rea Silvia and Acca Larentia were not replicated by Sarrocchi: the pedestals are there, but it seems they would have blocked the view of the Palio.
It was the city's first great public fountain. The version you see in the square dates from the nineteenth century; Jacopo della Quercia's originals are kept safe in the museum.
The name comes from the joy of the Sienese. When in 1346 water first gushed out in the square, the city celebrated, and from that spontaneous gaiety the nickname was born.
Behind it lay an impressive hydraulic work: a tunnel about thirty kilometers long, with a "bottino maestro", that is, a large cistern, improved in the fifteenth century by Francesco di Giorgio.
In 1409 the commune commissioned the decoration from Jacopo della Quercia, who completed it ten years later, in 1419.
On the two short sides are the Creation of Adam and the Expulsion from Paradise; on the long side, in the center, the Madonna and Child enthroned, surrounded by Virtues and Angels.
The figures seem to sink into and re-emerge from the oval edge of the panels, as in a circular movement. For its time it was a freedom of composition and a vitality entirely new, even if the theme, moral and religious, was the usual one.
But the marble chosen was fragile: the stone of the Montagnola Senese, exposed to everyday life in the square, soon deteriorated. In 1743 a man climbed one of the two statues, Rea Silvia, to see the Palio better. The statue fell to pieces, and he died.
In 1859 it was decided to replace the fountain with a copy in Carrara marble, more durable, entrusted to the Sienese sculptor Tito Sarrocchi and inaugurated ten years later.
He often had to recreate the reliefs almost from scratch, starting from worn fragments. The fountain was also moved to a more central position and protected by a railing by Giuseppe Partini.
The remains of the originals, restored, were displayed from 1904 to 1989 in the Loggia dei Nove of the Palazzo Pubblico, and can now be seen in the Santa Maria della Scala, beside Sarrocchi's casts and plasters.
Don't miss
• The Creation of Adam and the Expulsion from Paradise.
• The Madonna and Child among Virtues and Angels.
• Jacopo's original marbles, at the Santa Maria della Scala.
Did you know?
• The basin steps down following the slope of the square.
• The statues of Rea Silvia and Acca Larentia were not replicated by Sarrocchi: the pedestals are there, but it seems they would have blocked the view of the Palio.