Fontana di Piazza Nicosia obelisk, that can be seen today, and the fountain was moved to its final position in the Piazza Nicosia. Of the original fountain, however, only the large octagonal marble basin is original; the upper baluster and display bowl was a later construction. The original design included four Tritons, however, once sculpted, they were judged to be too large for the size of the basin, and so became part of the Fontana del Moro. <BR> Fontana di Piazza Nicosia The Fontana di Piazza Nicosia is a fountain in Rome, Italy, is the first of the modern fountains of Rome. It is
Fountain the first continually-running fountain in Florence, the Fountain of Neptune in the Piazza della Signoria (1560–1567). This fountain featured an enormous white marble statue of Neptune, resembling Cosimo, by sculptor Bartolomeo Ammannati. Under the Medicis, fountains were not just sources of water, but advertisements of the power and benevolence of the city's rulers. They became central elements not only of city squares, but of the new Italian Renaissance garden. The great Medici Villa at Castello, built for Cosimo by Benedetto Varchi, featured two monumental fountains on its central axis; one showing with two bronze figures representing Hercules slaying Antaeus, symbolizing