Fountain of Neptune (1574). Mixed media. 400. The Fountain of Neptune in Florence, Italy, is situated in the Piazza della Signoria, in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. The fountain was commissioned by Cosimo I de' Medici in 1559 to celebrate the marriage of Francesco de' Medici I to Grand Duchess Joanna of Austria. Cosimo I de' Medici was the Duke of Florence from 1537-1569 and responsible for a vast number of architectural and artistic elements in Florence that still exist today. The fountain was designed by Baccio Bandinelli, but created by Bartolomeo Ammannati with the assistance of several other artists between 1560 and 1574. It incorporates a series of mythological figures and iconographies that symbolize both Cosimo I de' Medici's power and the union of Francesco and Joanna. It has sustained a great deal of damage over the years due to vandalism and general mistreatment but underwent a major restoration completed in 2019 that restored it to its original glory. In 1559, Cosimo I de' Medici held a competition to select an artist to build the Fountain Of Neptune. The fountain was commissioned both in celebration of Cosimo's gift of clean water to the city and to celebrate the marriage of Francesco de' Medici I to the Grand Duchess Joanna of Austria. Don Vincenzo Borghini was Cosimo's iconographer and responsible for overseeing the project. The commission was originally granted to Baccio Bandinelli, but after his untimely death in 1560, before the project began, the commission was given to his student Bartolomeo Ammannati. This was the second commission Ammannati had received from Cosimo; his first commission was for the Grand Hall Fountain which was in celebration of Cosimo successfully bringing fresh water into the city. Ammannati created The Fountain of Neptune based on the designs drawn by Bandinelli. Although Ammannati was the fountain's main sculptor he was assisted by several artists throughout the completion from 1560-1574. Some of the artists include Vincenzo de' Rossi, who cast the four satyrs, and the Flemish artist Giambologna. Rossi was also commissioned by Cosimo to create the Labors of Hercules after he lost the competition for the Neptune project. The sculptors who assisted in carving the giant marble Neptune were Andrea Calamech, Battista Fiammeri, and Cesare di Nicodemo. The Fountain of Neptune consists of many different parts; aside from the giant Neptune atop a shell-shaped horse-drawn chariot, the fountain also has Tritons, Satyrs, two young women with Putti, two young men with dolphins, and Fauns. Neptune's features were modeled after Cosimo I de' Medici, which was appropriate parallel due to Cosimo's recent victory over Pisa, giving Florence safe access to the Mediterranean for trade. Ammannati's Neptune was unique because of its incredibly large scale and even though there were several Neptune fountains around Italy at the time, none of them had Neptune atop a horse-drawn chariot. The fountain was being built to celebrate the marriage of Francesco and Joanna, and the association of chariots with festivals and pageants could be the reason for Bandinelli's unusual incorporation of a horse-chariot. Because the fountain's scale was so large, it forced Ammannati to make some innovative choices when constructing his giant Neptune. Two of the horses were white marble, but the other two were made of mischio, a marble discovered near the Duke's excavation site in Seravezza. This new marble was a type of breccia and had a variety of colors including red, yellow and purple. Because this was a new medium, its qualities were unknown to sculptors at the time and the hard, brittle quality of the mischio made Ammannait's task even more difficult. Due to the brittle quality of mischio the columns of stone broke in transit, creating delays in the fountain's completion. Ammannati was finally able to carve the remainder of the horse and complete the fountain in 1574. The project was intended to be completed by 1565 for the celebration of Francesco de' Medici I and Joanna of Austria's wedding, but due to a myriad of delays in sourcing supplies for the fountain's completion, Ammannati was forced to come up with a temporary solution for the arrival of Johanna of Austria. Through the use of stucco and paint, Ammannati was able to create the illusion of a finished product. The combination of the Neptune as the subject matter and Ammannati's use of the duke's newly found stone made the fountain symbolic of the duke's reign over the Mediterranean and the mountains. Cosimo I de' Medici, Duke of Florence from 1537-1569, was largely responsible for shaping Florence into the city of the art and architecture that still stands today.