Nereid

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Detail with a lactating Nereid
Fountain of Neptune
Piazza del Nettuno
Bologna, June 2015

“Neptune Fountain has its base on three steps, on which it is situated a tank made of the local boulder and covered by marble of Verona. In the centre of the tank, there is a base where there are four Nereids who holding their breasts, from which jets of water emerge. The base is decorated with pontifical emblems, ornaments that – connected to four cherubs – hold dolphins (which are allegorical representation of major rivers from the then-known corners of the world: the Ganges, the Nile, the Amazon River, and the Danube. In the centre of this base raises the majestic figure of the Neptune sculpted by Giambologna's; the statue is a typical expressions of the manneristic theatricality.” (Fountain of Neptune, Wikipedia)