Florence: the Fountain of Neptune

Stay at

Mario's Hotel

and its staff helps you to visit Florence

The Fountain of Neptune is a fountain in Florence, Italy, situated on the Piazza della Signoria (Signoria square), in front of the Palazzo Vecchio.

Fountain of Neptune

This work by Bartolomeo Ammannati (1563–1565) and some assistants, such as Giambologna, was commissioned on the occasion of the wedding of Francesco I de' Medici with grand duchess Johanna of Austria in 1565. The assignment had first been given to Baccio Bandinelli, who designed the model but he died before he could start working on the block of Apuan marble.
The Neptune figure, whose face resembles that of Cosimo I de' Medici, was meant to be an allusion to the dominion of the Florentines over the sea. The figure stands on a high pedestal in the middle of an octagonal fountain. The pedestal in the middle is decorated with the mythical chained figures of Scylla and Charybdis. The statue of Neptune is a copy made in the nineteenth century, while the original is in the National Museum.
However, when the work was finished, it was not appreciated in particular by the Florentines, who called it Il Biancone (the white giant).
Work continued on this fountain during the next ten years. Ammannati, with the assistance of the best Florentine sculptors and casters, added around the perimeter of the basin, in a mannerist style, suave, reclining, bronze river gods, laughing satyrs and marble sea-horses emerging from the water. The monumental marble and the dynamic bronzes give nevertheless a coherent impression. The fountain served as an example for future fountain-makers.

Shopping time with THE MALL in Reggello

Time of shopping when you'll get to Florence. There are not only art, churches and exhibitions. Out of Florence, about 30 minutes by car or bus there is THE MALL ( www.themall.it ) where you could find stores of Gucci,Ferragamo,Sergio Rossi, Valentino,Tod's,Bottega Veneta, Ermenegildo Zegna and many many others.
The Mall is situated in the green Tuscan hills.
From Florence: Take the A1 motorway towards Florence/Rome and take the exit marked Incisa. Stay on the right towards Pontassieve until reaching Leccio. Soon after passing the center of Leccio, The Mall will be on the left.

From Rome: Take the A1 motorway towards Florence and take the exit marked Incisa. Stay on the right towards Pontassieve until reaching Leccio. Soon after
passing the center of Leccio, The Mall will be on the left.

BY TRAIN
Take the train from Florence’s Santa Maria Novella station to Rignano sull'Arno and continue by taxi (about 5 min) to Leccio.

SHUTTLE BUS SERVICE
There is a daily service from Florence, from the train station of Santa Maria Novella to and from The Mall. For information and reservations please contact the information center. Hotel Mario's is only 3 min. walking from the bus shuttle station to THE MALL, very easy to go and to come back. Contact our staff to get information : info@hotelmarios.com

ADDRESS
Via Europa 8, Leccio, Reggello 50060, Florence, Italy

INFORMATION CENTER
tel +39.055.8657775 (Mon-Fri 9am-6pm)
fax +39.055.8657801


OPENING HOURS
Monday-Saturday all day.
Sunday afternoon.

Bill Viola presents "Emergence" at the Accademia

The Galleria dell’Accademia will present the restored Pietà da Palestrina, the marble group sculpture attributed to Michelangelo and exhibited in the Tribune of the David. On this occasion at 10.00 p.m. in the Tribune of the David the Galleria dell’Accademia of Florence proposes the video Emergence (2002) by Bill Viola in the presence of the artist himself. This event intends to suggest a meditation on the theme of the Pietà, a central theme in the life and work of Michelangelo starting from his youth (St. Peter’s Pietà), and then repeatedly in later age (the Bandinelli Pietà intended for his own tomb, and the Rondanini Pietà).
This is another extraordinary possibility to see an incredible artist from the past, Michelangelo, and an extraordinary artist of this times, Bill Viola. The Bill Viola's opera will be on till 9th of May 2010, so don't waste to much time.
To book the hotel, just call us at the +39-055-216801 or write an email to this adress : info@hotelmarios.com

Giotto, the father of modern painting

Giotto di Bondone, the father of modern painting and one of the greatest figures in the history of Western art, was born in a small hamlet in the valley of the Mugello, twenty miles north of Florence.
Giotto signed his name to only three of his paintings. His most famous attributed works are the Arena Chapel frescoes (1305-10) in Padua, the Bardi and Peruzzi Chapel frescoes in Santa Croce in Florence, and the magnificent Ognissanti Madonna for the Church of All Saints. The twenty-eight frescoes based on the life of St. Francis and located in the Upper Church of the Franciscans in Assisi are accepted as Giotto's by some art historians and denied him by others. The controversy, which has now raged for a century and a half, fills volumes and has yet to be resolved.
Giotto was a painter during the renaissance period and this influenced his paintings to be mostly based on the bible. During this period a Dante of the devine comedy said "Giotto is regarded as the founder of the central tradition of western painting because his work broke free from the stylizations of Byzantine art, introducing new ideals of naturalism and creating a convincing sense of pictorial space."
At the Uffizi Gallery you could see the "Ognissanti Madonna" , the "The Badia Polyptych" and others. As written by Vasari:
“One day Cimabue was going about his business between Florence and Vespignano, and he came upon Giotto who, while his sheep were grazing, was sketching one of them in a lifelike way with a slightly pointed rock upon a smooth and polished stone without having learned how to draw it from anyone other than Nature. This caused Cimabue to stop in amazement…”
Another very good reason to visit Florence, you cannot imagine how many great masterpieces you are gonna see here. Start your days at Hotel Mario's, we are in the centre of the city, next to the train station Santa Maria Novella, a very nice and typical 3 stars Hotel in an historical palace. Enjoy Hotel Mario's, enjoy Giotto...

Why Hotel Mario's, why Italy?

Hotel Mario's is an old style Hotel in the heart of the city of Florence.Have you ever been in Italy? Italy is called Belpaese, "Beautiful country" because of its art,food and style.We are glad to be part of this nation and in particulary, of this city.
Come to Florence and enjoy Hotel Mario's.