Neptune and Triton

myminifactory

The commission was given by Alessandro Peretti, Cardinal Montalto, to Gianlorenzo Bernini, Italy's leading Baroque sculptor, for the garden at Villa Montalto in Rome. In 1622-23, within a year, the group was carved. For centuries 17 and 18, it stood as one of Rome's most celebrated sights, and many engravings show it in its original position at the upper end of the large fishpond known as Peschiera or Peschierone in the Montalto garden. This impressive group originally formed a central part of a complex system of fountains and cascades. It shot a single jet of water through the conchshell held by Triton, who was misidentified in some engravings as Glaucus, the fisherman who turned into a merman according to mythology, half man half fish. Neptune ruled over seas and its inhabitants in classical mythology. His son Triton was a merman. Neptune and Triton are portrayed with great vitality as they command the seas which we must imagine around the base of the group. The composition is based on Ovid's account of the Flood from Metamorphoses Book 1, 330-42, where Triton is ordered by Neptune to blow his conchshell to summon the waters to retreat. However it is also often associated with Quos Ego Whom I, Neptune's unfinished threat to the winds to cease stirring seas, from Virgil's Aeneid Book 1, 135. This object is part of Scan The World a non-profit initiative by MyMiniFactory through which we are creating a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures artworks and landmarks from across the globe for public access free. Scan The World is an open source community effort if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute email stw@myminifactory.com to find out how you can help.