Tartuca

---

Tartuca (Tortoise) fountain by Bruno Buracchini, 1951
Via San Pietro
Siena, April 2017

“The first Siena contrada to commission its own unique fountain was Tartuca (tortoise). Sculptor Vico Consorti was engaged by the contrada to make a bronze turtle, but the original sculpture lacked animation and did not satisfy the contrada committee. The replacement, as recast by artist Bruno Buracchini, depicts a child astride a tortoise in motion. Tartuca’s fountain was inaugurated in 1951, but due to the recasting and delays it was not the first but the second put into use. Tartuca’s patron, St. Anthony of Padua, is celebrated on June 13. The Tartuca contrada is in the southeast part of Siena, between the Pinacoteca and Porta Tufi, in Terzo di Città. Their fountain occupies a niche in a wall on Via San Pietro.” (Siena's Contrada Fountains, La Bella Vita in Italia)