Sunday, May 6, 2018

Fontana Angelica

The fountain Angelica is situated in piazza Solferino, one of the beautiful piazza in Turin.


Inaugurated in 1929, it consists of four impressive groups of statues that represent the four seasons. It was commissioned by the mayor Riccardo Cattaneo on a project by the sculptor Giovanni Riva,  thanks to the financing by testamentary legacy of the minister Paolo Bajnotti (1842-1919), and it took the name of his mother Angelica Cugiani Bajnotti. Initially it was decided to place the fountain in front of the Cathedral, in Piazza San Giovanni, but then Piazza Solferino was chosen due to opposition of the Church. The figures of the four seasons would have in fact multiple symbolic Masonic and Mythological values:
Spring: female statue on the lower eastern side outside, it represents the sacred love, the virtue, with a nest of birds in her lap and a child who throws a flock of swallows in the air.Summer: a female statue on the lower western side outside, it represents the profane love, the vice, and holds in the lap of the ears, with a child holding a garland of fruit.Autumn: a male statue to the east but looking westward, represents Boaz, one of the supporters of the Pillars of Hercules.Winter: central statue to the west but looking towards the east, represents Jaquim, the other supporter of the Pillars of Hercules.

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