Fontana del Putto con l'oca (Fountain of the Putto with the Goose) by Giuseppe Graziosi, 1931 (copy 1980)
Piazza XX Settembre
Modena, May 2024
“Between Piazza Grande and the Covered Market lies Piazza XX Settembre: an urban “void” that was created by the urban ‘reclamation’ projects undertaken between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, aimed at demolishing blocks of dilapidated and unhealthy buildings with narrow courtyards. Here, until 1903, there was a network of medieval streets close to the square, with houses of minor construction, such as Vicolo del Bue and Via delle Vaccine, whose names convey an ancient activity of buying and selling livestock. Piazza XX Settembre, until a few years ago the site of a permanent market mainly selling clothes, rediscovers its vocation and colour as a place close to the market in the fountain that stands in the western sector, commissioned by the Municipality of Modena for public utility as well as for street furniture: it is the fountain with the bronze statue of the Cherub with goose performed by Giuseppe Graziosi, the well-known sculptor and painter from Savignano sul Panaro, in 1931. The people of Modena have always admired with sympathy the child who tries to save the fish he is holding in his hand from the attacks of the goose, an example of the naturalistic streak of Graziosi, whose vast figurative culture does not extinguish, but rather revives the spontaneity and freshness of the invention. Originally the fountain was in the centre of the square, and consisted of a tall column with a Cherub at the top and a circular basin at the base. The reconfiguration of the fountain then saw the statue placed on a small column, between the two characteristic oval basins taken from the Piazza Grande: the very shape of an old salt cellar, or rather a ‘salino’, from which the dialect nickname of ‘salein’ comes.” (The four fountains to discover when visiting Modena, Modena & Dintorni)
No comments:
Post a Comment