Tuesday 19 August 2014

The Appennine Colossus

image credit: Hari Seldon

Measuring about 35 feet tall, it's arguably the most spectacular feature of the gardens of Villa Medici at Pratolino, located about 7 miles north of Florence, Italy. Called 'the Appennine Colossus', it was created around 1580 by scultor Giambologna, born as Jean Boulogne.

This colossal sculpture recalls the figure of Atlas in Virgil's Aeneid, and also the architect Dinocrates' proposal to shape Mount Athos into a man in honor of Alexander the Great.

0 comment(s):