Fountain of the Twelve Months
Object/Work Type
Permanent Structures, Recreation Structures
Title Text
Fountain of the Twelve Months
Alternate Title Text
Fontana monumentale, Fontana dei dodici mesi
Creator Description
Carlo Ceppi
Creation Date
1898
Demolition Date
still existent
Styles/Periods Description
Rococo' and Liberty, Moorish
Descriptive Note Text
The "Fontana dei dodici mesi" was realized by Carlo Ceppi and was inaugurated at the 1898 National Exposition of Turin, as part of the national celebration of the fifty years of the "Statuto Albertino". The fountain features a large oval basin surrounded by a decorated balustrade with twelve statues, symbols of the twelve months. The 4 statuary groups at the top of the fountain represent the 4 rivers of Piedmont: Po, Dora, Stura and Sangone. The statuary groups were created by sculptors Luigi Contratti, Edoardo Rubino, Giacomo Cometti, Cesare Biscarra, and Cesare Reduzzi (Magnaghi et al., 1995). The fountain was originally set against the Moorish facade of an exposition building, later dismantled. It was said to be reminscient of the Fountain of Villa della Regina in Turin and the legend has it that it was located where the Egyptian prince Eridano fell into the river Po.
References:
- Lanzardo, D. & Poli, F. (2012). Torino la città delle statue. Fantasmi di pietra sulla scena urbana. Turin: Edizioni del Capricorno, 159-163;
- Massaia, A. S. (1992). “Carlo Ceppi: un portagonitsa dell’Eclettismo a Torino” in Studi Piemontesi, XXI(2), 407-429;
- Magnaghi, A., Monge, M., & Re, L. (1995). Guida all’architettura moderna di Torino. Turin: Lindau.
- Politecnico di Torino, Dipartimento Casa Città (1984). Beni culturali ambientali nel Comune di Torino, 1, Turin: Società degli ingegneri e degli architetti in Torino, 352.
Code in the 1911 Map
SIM 49
Related Protagonists
Related Secondary Sources