The Fontana Maggiore, a masterpiece of medieval sculpture, placed in the centre of Piazza IV Novembre (formerly Piazza Grande), is the monument symbol of the city of Perugia.
History
The monumental fountain was designed by Frà Bevignate da Cingoli and built between 1275 and 1277 to celebrate the arrival of water in the acropolis of the city, by means of the new aqueduct. Bevignate cooperated with other talented professionals, as Boninsegna Veneziano, a hydraulic engineer, who accomplished an incredible audacious endeavour, being able to carry the water coming from monte Pacciano, located a few kilometres, without the help of pumps. By means of a forced pressure duct, he managed to give to the water the opposite movement, i.e., the water flowed uphill instead of downhill.
Another co-worker was the melter Rosso Padellaio, who created the bronze upper part of the fountain. The marble tiles were placed from 1278, carved by the most important sculptors of the period: Nicola Pisano, who studied at the Scuola foggiana di architettura e scultura di Federico II (the school in Foggia Federico II, specialized in architecture and sculpture) in partnership with Giovanni, his son.
The fountain was damaged by the earthquake of 1348, with the subsequent random reconstruction of the tile order; it was refurbished the first time in 1948/49 and then again in 1995/99.
The fountain inspired Jacopo di Grondalo for the construction of the fountain Sturinalto of Fabriano in 1285.
In the early 20th century, the fountain was refurbished by the architect Giuseppe Sacconi.
Description
The fountain was prepared in a workshop and then assembled in the centre of the square; it was made of stone from Assisi. The fountain consists of two concentric polygonal marble basins, on top a bronze cup (by the artisan Rosso Padellaio from Perugia) decorated with a coloured bronze group of feminine figures (perhaps nymphs) out of which comes the water.
The lower basin is made up of 25 mirrors, each divided into 2 tiles that describe the 12 months of the year, each of which is related to a zodiac symbol. Each month is connected to scenes of daily life and the farming work that characterize it. As in other contemporary sculptures from Europe, in which the months are represented, here the manual work obtains dignity. In this basin manual labour is in fact represented together with the arti liberali (liberal arts), with philosophy, with characters from the Bible and the history of Rome; in this specific order:
The month of January (a gentleman and his wife at the hearth – Aquarius) The month of February (two fishermen - Pisces) The month of March (the "spinario" and the pruning of the vineyard - Aries) The month of April (two allegories of spring - Taurus)
The month of May (two Knights on Falconry - Gemini) The month of June (the harvest and flailing - Cancer) The month of July (the threshing and the division of wheat - Lion) The month of August (the fig harvest - Virgo) The month of September (the crushing of must - Libra and the grape harvest)
The month of October (the filling up of casks - Scorpion and the construction of casks) The month of November (the ploughing - Sagittarius and the sowing) The month of December (the slaughter of the pork - Capricorn) The Lion Guelph and the Griffin of Perugia Grammar and Dialectic
Rhetoric and Arithmetic
Geometry and Music
Astronomy and Philosophy
Two eagles, on the right one the signature of Giovanni Pisano
The Original Sin and the expulsion from Eden
Samson kills the Lion and Samson and Dalila
Davide triumphant and Golia defeated
Romulus and Remus (represented as two falconers) The she-wolf that fed Romulus, Remus and their mother Rea Silvia Two of Aesop's fables (the fox and the crane and the wolf and the lamb)