To the side of the whispering gallery or Palazzo del Podesta, and to the north side of Piazza Maggiore, is Piazza Nettuno.
In the Piazza Nettuno is the 16th century bronze statue by Giambologna of Neptune and his Attendants who in Roman mythology is the god of water and the sea.
16th century bronze statue by Giambologna of Neptune and his Attendants
At each corner of the fountain are four mermaids or attendants, in the picture they are the bronze statues, not the Italian students taking in the afternoon sun.
I was told that the fountain statue was commissioned by Charles Borromeo (the Cardinal Legate) to celebrate the election of his uncle as Pope Pius IV. His rooms were the top right rooms in the building to the left of the statue in the above photograph, so he could look down upon it.
It was said that in the original design, Neptune’s manhood was rather large and the Pope objected to it, so it was sculptured very small. Or could it be that it depicts Neptune just leaving a cold sea?
In the photograph above you can see Neptune’s left hand pointing forward.
From the window of the Pope, because of the angle, all that can be seen is a pointing finger, which can just be made out in the photograph below against the background of the brickwork of the Basilica di San Petronio.
Neptune from the rear, Piazza Nettuno, Bologna
The fountain water also is very intriguing as to where it flows from. As already mentioned, at the base of the statue are four mermaids, attendants or from Greek mythology, four of the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris who dwell in the Mediterranean Sea, known as Nereids.
Four of the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris, known as Nereids at the base of Neptune’s statue, Bologna
The fountain of Neptune and his Attendants, Piazza Nettuno , Bologna Italy.
Um.