Monday, February 25, 2013

Sea Monster

Sea monster fountain by Pietro Tacca, piazza Colonnella, Livorno
In the post Four Horses we were able to ascertain the prowess of the sculptor Pietro Tacca with horses, and we have not yet seen the last of it. He was also quite good at doing monsters of the sea variety, like this one on a fountain in our in Piazza Colonnella, at the west end of Via Grande.
Sea monster fountain by Pietro Tacca, piazza della Santissima Annunziata, Florence
Originally, the fountains (1629) should have been placed on the sides of the Four Moors, but the Grand Duke Ferdinando II liked them so much that kept them in Florence and had them erected by his ancestor's equestrian statue in Piazza della Santissima Annunziata (photo). We only got copies, after three centuries...

See also: Sea Monsters - Four Horses
External links: Pietro Tacca (Wikipedia)

14 comments:

Randy said...

Not something I would want to see everyday.

Jack said...

Oh no. NIghtmares tonight.

tapirgal said...

He has a sealion's face :-)

Dina said...

Those sea monsters are really scary. No wonder the early mariners had fears.

cieldequimper said...

Yes, they are beautifully done.

Cezar and Léia said...

Wonderful fountain and your pictures are great!
I also love those bikes in the background( second shot)
hugs
Léia

Hilda said...

I'm strange. I really like your sea monsters.

Luis Gomez said...

These are beautiful VP!

Lois Evensen said...

Great art, but not very cuddly creatures. ;)

Traveling Hawk said...

The first photo reminds me of a SF movie (I can't recall the name), where the extraterestrial hero looked the same:)

Halcyon said...

Uh-oh... looks a bit like they've overindulged and are paying the price!

Stefan Jansson said...

Monsters are fun.

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Wow the first image is fabulous VP, M. Tacca was very talented.

Unknown said...

This is just fabulous! Love it.