The Fonte Gaia from Renaissance to modern times: a history of construction, preservation, and reconstruction in Siena

Abstract

'The Fonte Gaia from Renaissance to Modern Times' examines the history of Siena's famous public fountain, from its fifteenth-century origins to its eventual replacement by a copy in the nineteenth century (and the modern fate of both). The book explores how both the Risorgimento and the Symbolist movements have shaped our perceptions of the Italian Renaissance, as the Quattrocento was filtered through the lens of contemporary art and politics.

Contents

1. Siena: Water and Power -- Water -- Early Medieval Italian Fountains -- Sienese Fountains -- 2. The First Fonte Gaia -- The Contract for the First Fountain -- Decoration of the First Fountain -- Sources of Water for the Fountain -- The History of the First Fountain -- Jacopo della Quercia's Fonte Gaia and Its Chronology -- Identifying the Fonte Gaia's Parapet Sculptures -- Acca Larentia and Rhea Silvia -- Jacopo della Quercia's Parapet Statues -- Mother Earth and Gaia -- Why the Fonte Gaia's Parapet Sculptures Were Changed to Refer to Gaia, and Other Precedents for Its Iconography -- The Influence of Jacopo della Quercia's Fonte Gaia in the Fifteenth Century -- 3. A History of Disrepair -- Why the Fonte Gaia Was Damaged In Situ -- Jacopo della Quercia's Choice of Materials -- Civic Events and Festivals: Bull Hunts, Markets, Buffalo Races, Palio -- The Removal of the Fountain -- Milanesi's Crusade to Save the Fonte Gaia -- Sarrocchi Carves a Replacement for della Quercia's Fonte Gaia -- The Fate of della Quercia's Sculptures after Removal from the Piazza del Campo -- The Relationship between Bruni's Drawings and Sarrocchi's Sculptures -- Cleaning della Quercia's Fountain Pieces -- New Discoveries: What the Restoration Uncovered -- 4. The Nineteenth-Century Fonte Gaia -- The Life of the Sculptor -- Sarrocchi in Antonio Manetti's Studio -- Italian Purism -- The Artistic Climate at the Academy: Lorenzo Bartolini and Giovanni Dupre -- Sarrocchi's Early Career -- Giuseppe Partini -- Sarrocchi's Fonte Gaia Commission and Reception -- Faithful Copy or Purist Revision? A Comparison of Sarrocchi's Fonte Gaia and della Quercia's Original Monument -- Conclusion.