The Apennine Colossus is a stone statue, approximately 30m high. In the estate of the Villa Demidoff in Vaglia, Tuscany. Giambologna (Flemish sculptor Jean de Boulogne) created the colossal figure, a personification of the Apennine mountains, in the late 1580s. It was constructed on the grounds of the Villa di Pratolino, a Renaissance villa that fell into disrepair and was replaced by the Villa Demidoff in the 1800s.
The colossus is about 98 ft high and is meant as a personification of the Apennine Mountains. It was the water source for the Pratolino, its fountains and secret water plays. The colossus has the appearance of an elderly man crouched at the shore of a lake and is surrounded by other sculptures depicting mythological themes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses including Pegasus, Parnassus or Jupiter. It is presumed that Giambologna was inspired by the description of a mountain-like Atlas in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, when he designed the figure of Apennine. Other sources cite the Atlas as described in the Aeneid of the Roman poet Virgil as an inspiration. With his left hand in front of him, the Apennine seems to squeeze the head of a sea monster through whose open mouth water emanates into the pond ahead of the statue. The stone colossus is depicted naked, with stalactites in the thick beard and long hair to show the metamorphosis of man and mountain, blending his body with the surrounding nature, populated by aquatic vegetation. The statue is described to originally have been emerging from its environment like being alive. The giant was able to sweat and weep over a network of water pipes. In the winter season, icicles would cover his body. The work was made of stone and plaster and appearing to be partially covered with moss and lichens.
Within the giant exist a series of chambers and caves on three levels. In the ground floor of the colossus exists a cave containing an octagonal fountain dedicated to the Greek goddess Thetys. The Italian painter Jacopo Ligozzi adorned the Grotto de Thetys with frescos of villages from the Mediterranean coast of Tuscany in 1586. In other chambers mining scenes based on the book De re metallica by the mineralogist Georgius Agricola were to be seen. In the giant’s upper floor is a chamber big enough for a small orchestra and in the head a small chamber holds a fireplace out of which the smoke would escape through his nostrils. The chamber in the head had slits in the ears and the eyes. Francesco enjoyed fishing while sitting in the head chamber, throwing the fishing line through one of the eye slits. At night the chamber was illuminated with torches, following which the eyes appeared to glow in the dark. Initially, the back of the Colossus was protected by a structure resembling a cave, as seen on an etching by Stefano della Bella. As Giambologna was an admirer of the Italian sculptor Michaelangelo the cave-like structure was also compared with Michelangelo’s style of the non-finito. On top of it, there was a terrace. The cave-resembling structure was demolished around 1690 by the sculptor Giovan Battista Foggini, who also built a statue of a dragon to adorn the back of the colossus. The dragon was described to have been a fountain, but it is assumed the dragon’s belly was transformed into a fireplace while the dragon’s neck and head had the function of its chimney. In 1876, the Italian sculptor Rinaldo Barbetti renovated the giant statue.
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The Apennine Colossus is a stone statue, approximately 30m high. In the estate of the Villa Demidoff in Vaglia, Tuscany. Giambologna (Flemish sculptor Jean de Boulogne) created the colossal figure, a personification of the Apennine mountains, in the late 1580s. It was constructed on the grounds of the Villa di Pratolino, a Renaissance villa that fell into disrepair and was replaced by the Villa Demidoff in the 1800s.
The colossus is about 98 ft high and is meant as a personification of the Apennine Mountains. It was the water source for the Pratolino, its fountains and secret water plays. The colossus has the appearance of an elderly man crouched at the shore of a lake and is surrounded by other sculptures depicting mythological themes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses including Pegasus, Parnassus or Jupiter. It is presumed that Giambologna was inspired by the description of a mountain-like Atlas in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, when he designed the figure of Apennine. Other sources cite the Atlas as described in the Aeneid of the Roman poet Virgil as an inspiration. With his left hand in front of him, the Apennine seems to squeeze the head of a sea monster through whose open mouth water emanates into the pond ahead of the statue. The stone colossus is depicted naked, with stalactites in the thick beard and long hair to show the metamorphosis of man and mountain, blending his body with the surrounding nature, populated by aquatic vegetation. The statue is described to originally have been emerging from its environment like being alive. The giant was able to sweat and weep over a network of water pipes. In the winter season, icicles would cover his body. The work was made of stone and plaster and appearing to be partially covered with moss and lichens.
Within the giant exist a series of chambers and caves on three levels. In the ground floor of the colossus exists a cave containing an octagonal fountain dedicated to the Greek goddess Thetys. The Italian painter Jacopo Ligozzi adorned the Grotto de Thetys with frescos of villages from the Mediterranean coast of Tuscany in 1586. In other chambers mining scenes based on the book De re metallica by the mineralogist Georgius Agricola were to be seen. In the giant’s upper floor is a chamber big enough for a small orchestra and in the head a small chamber holds a fireplace out of which the smoke would escape through his nostrils. The chamber in the head had slits in the ears and the eyes. Francesco enjoyed fishing while sitting in the head chamber, throwing the fishing line through one of the eye slits. At night the chamber was illuminated with torches, following which the eyes appeared to glow in the dark. Initially, the back of the Colossus was protected by a structure resembling a cave, as seen on an etching by Stefano della Bella. As Giambologna was an admirer of the Italian sculptor Michaelangelo the cave-like structure was also compared with Michelangelo’s style of the non-finito. On top of it, there was a terrace. The cave-resembling structure was demolished around 1690 by the sculptor Giovan Battista Foggini, who also built a statue of a dragon to adorn the back of the colossus. The dragon was described to have been a fountain, but it is assumed the dragon’s belly was transformed into a fireplace while the dragon’s neck and head had the function of its chimney. In 1876, the Italian sculptor Rinaldo Barbetti renovated the giant statue.
Incredibly beutiful. Thanks for sharing and info!
Crazy how nature did that…
Saying it is in Florence is quite a stretch ☺