PIAZZA IV NOVEMBRE
Fontata Maggiore is located in the middle of Piazza IV Novembre, which is in Perugia’s City Centre. The square has been the crux of many institutional functions and epicentre of city life throughout all its history. It sits between the Perugia Cathedral – where the Episcopal Seat was transferred during the X Century – and Palazzo dei Priori, whose Sala Dei Notari (Room of the Notaries) has been the institutional centre of the city since its communal years in the Middle Ages.
FONTANTA MAGGIORE
In the middle of Piazza IV Novembre sits one of the most emblematic monuments of Perugia: Fontana Maggiore.
The fountain was built between 1254 and 1278, and it is one of the finest specimens of Medieval Commune Art. Sculpted by Nicola and Giovanni Pisano, who were father and son, with the help of Frà Bevignate and Boninsegna Veneziano, who was in charge of the hydraulic system, the fountain is composed of two polygonal and concentric marble basins and a bronze bowl. The decorations depict the political and cultural structure of Perugia, celebrating the founding of the city and its role in the region.
The lower basin has a total of 24 sides divided by sections of three columns. Two bas-relief per side represent different contexts and situations. It starts with 12 representations of professions of events for each month of the year. January, for example, is symbolised with two figures, one male and one female, warming by the fire. February is represented by a fish, may by falcon hunting and so on up to December showing the slaughtering of the pig. The months of the year are intervalled by astrological signs and other symbols such as the lion, the Perugian griffon, the seven liberal arts (Grammar, Dialecetics, Astronomy, Music, Rhetoric, Arithmetic, Geometry) and Philosophy. And again: two eagles, Adam and Eve, stories of David and Goliath, Romolus and Remus and two fables of Aesop (the Wolf and the Lamb, the Wolf and the Crane).
The upper basin has smooth sides, with a single exception, an inscription found during the restoration works of 1322. On each of the 24 corners of the basin there is a statue by Giovanni Pisano. These sculptures represent influential figures in history and of Perugia’s everyday life. They are: Saint Peter, the Roman Church, Rome, Theology, Cleric of Saint Lawrence, Saint Lawrence, Ninfa del territorio Chiusino, Perugia, Ninfa del Trasimeno, Sant’Ercolano, the Traitor Cleric, Saint Benedict, San Mauro, The Baptist, Salomone, David, Salomè, Moses, Matteo da Correggio, the Archangel Micheal, Euliste (founder of Perugia), Melchisedec, Ermanno da Sassoferrato, the Victory.