Apennine Colossus

The colossus is about 11 metres (36 ft) high[1] and is meant as a personification of the Apennine Mountains.[3][4] It was the water source for the Pratolino,[5] its fountains and secret water plays.[6] The colossus has the appearance of an elderly man crouched at the shore of a lake[7] and is surrounded by other sculptures depicting mythological themes from Ovid's Metamorphoses including Pegasus, Parnassus or Jupiter.[8] It is presumed that Giambologna was inspired by the description of a mountain-like Atlas in Ovid's Metamorphoses, when he designed the figure of Apennine.[8] Other sources cite the Atlas as described in the Aeneid of the Roman poet Virgil as an inspiration.[9] With his left hand in front of him, the Apennine seems to squeeze the head of a sea monster[7] through whose open mouth water emanates into the pond ahead of the statue.[10] The stone colossus is depicted naked, with stalactites in the thick beard[10] and long hair to show the metamorphosis of man and mountain, blending his body with the surrounding nature, populated by aquatic vegetation.[11] The statue is described to originally have been emerging from its environment[12] like being alive. The giant was able to sweat and weep over a network of water pipes.[5] In the winter season, icicles would cover his body.[5] The work was made of stone and plaster and appearing to be partially covered with moss and lichens.[11]

Within the giant exist a series of chambers and caves on three levels.[5] In the ground floor of the colossus exists a cave[13] containing an octagonal fountain dedicated to the Greek goddess Thetys.[14] The Italian painter Jacopo Ligozzi adorned the Grotto de Thetys[15] with frescos of villages from the Mediterranean coast of Tuscany in 1586.[16] In other chambers mining scenes based on the book De re metallica by the mineralogist Georgius Agricola were to be seen.[17] In the giant's upper floor is a chamber big enough for a small orchestra and in the head a small chamber holds a fireplace out of which the smoke would escape through his nostrils.[10] The chamber in the head had slits in the ears and the eyes.[7] Francesco enjoyed fishing while sitting in the head chamber, throwing the fishing line through one of the eye slits.[5] At night the chamber was illuminated with torches, following which the eyes appeared to glow in the dark.[5] Initially, the back of the Colossus was protected by a structure resembling a cave, as seen on an etching by Stefano della Bella.[18][14] As Giambologna was an admirer of the Italian sculptor Michaelangelo the cave-like structure was also compared with Michelangelo's style of the non-finito.[4] On top of it, there was a terrace.[5] The cave-resembling structure was demolished around 1690 by the sculptor Giovan Battista Foggini, who also built a statue of a dragon[19] to adorn the back of the colossus.[5] The dragon was described to have been a fountain, but it is assumed the dragon's belly was transformed into a fireplace while the dragon's neck and head had the function of its chimney.[20] In 1876, the Italian sculptor Rinaldo Barbetti renovated the statue.[21]

The Pratolino is located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north of Florence at the foot of the Apennine mountain range.[22] In it, there is a rectangular square called the Prato del Appennino, situated in front of the colossus.[14]

After Francesco de' Medici's death in 1587 and that of his wife Bianca Capello the next day,[23] the villa and its surroundings fell into decay.[11] The Villa di Pratolino was demolished in 1822[11] and in 1872, the heirs of Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, sold the estate[12] to the Demidoff family who built their own villa on it.[7] In 1981, the Villa Demidoff was purchased by the Province of Florence[24] and today the park and its giant are accessible to the public.[12]

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  Etching by Stefano Della Bella
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  Front of the Colossus of the Apennine
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  The Apennine Colossus overseeing the pond
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  Detail of the Colossus of the Apennine
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  Fountain of Thetys in the ground floor by Giovanni Guerra
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  Upper chamber within the statue
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  Dragon at the back of the Colossus by Giovanni Battista Foggini

• Media related to Appennino by Giambologna at Wikimedia Commons