Fontana della Pigna is a photograph by Douglas Taylor which was uploaded on November 18th, 2022.
Fontana della Pigna
The Fontana della Pigna is the giant, 4 meter tall pine cone set into a grand niche in the Belvedere Courtyard located in Vatican City within the... more
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Price
$195
Dimensions
30.000 x 45.000 inches
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Title
Fontana della Pigna
Artist
Douglas Taylor
Medium
Photograph - Fine Art Digital Photography
Description
The Fontana della Pigna is the giant, 4 meter tall pine cone set into a grand niche in the Belvedere Courtyard located in Vatican City within the city of Rome, Italy.
This monumental creation is a bronze casting from around the 1st or 2nd century CE, and is signed by its creator, Publius Cincius Salvius. It was originally a fountain and located near the Pantheon at the Roman Temple of Isis. During the Middle Ages it was moved to the Old Saint Peter's Basilica, where as a fountain it was the centerpiece in the atrium, and then again in 1608 it was moved to its current location.
The courtyard where it now stands was originally part of the Cortile del Belvedere, designed by Donato Bramante to connect the palace of Pope Innocent VIII with the Sistine Chapel. When Bramante died, architect Pirro Ligorio finished the project and added the wall and niche to close the courtyard and showcase this marvelous and ancient work of art.
The base of the great pine cone is a 3rd century statue, “Capital with coronation of a victorious athlete” taken from the Neronian-Alexandrian Baths. The bronze peacocks on either side of the fountain are copies of those that once decorated the tomb of the Emperor Hadrian, now the Castel Sant'Angelo. The original peacocks are in the Braccio Nuovo Museum.
To pagan peoples, the pine cone symbolized fertility, and as icons of fecundity and regeneration, pincones appeared from the time immemorial on the tip of the Bacchuc thysrus. The Romans placed them in fountains, and monumental cones were also placed as finials on funerary buildings, with the same symbolic connotations. The Catholic Church co-opted the pine cone sometime after the 4th century to now symbolize resurrection and eternal life.
All of the Vatican is on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.
Uploaded
November 18th, 2022
Comments (3)
Robert Bales
Excellent close-up and thanks for the nice information!! LFTw
Douglas Taylor replied:
Thank you, Robert! I was actually standing a ways back from this 12-foot tall bronze casting.
VIVA Anderson
How wonder-ful, Douglas. Such a departure from your beautiful Mountains/beloved. And highest compliments, as always. A stunning interesting unique artwork and serious informative Description.....so important this monument / bronze, so beautiful! and meaningful from Pagan times. It is enormous!! Is a glory to history, stunningly captured, !! I certainly am enriched by your Vision/capture, and exciting history. Thank you. FAV !!!! Kudos !!!!
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