Page 4 of the Public Fountains of Italy
The Gothic Fountain of the Piazza della Morte, in Viterbo, shows the same breadth of style as the others in this town, distinguished by that quality from the Gothic fountains of more northern Italian cities. In the Fountain of Neptune, Florence, the bronze sea-horses by Giovanni da Bologna, are entirely overwhelmed by a clumsy and inartistic statue of Neptune carved by Ammanati, the disciple of Michelangelo. This figure was ridiculed by the Florentines from the first, and they have a versified saying concerning it: "Ammanati, Ammanati, you have ruined a fine block of marble."' The celebrated Fonte Gaja in Siena, though not particularly interesting in general form, is one of the masterpieces.
The Great Fountain in the Piazza del Duomo at Perugia, dates from 1277. It, with its three admirable basins adorned with biblical and allegorical reliefs, is perhaps the most beautiful medieval fountain which has come down to us. An inscription states that it was completed in 1280; and its beauty is not to be wondered at, 
considering that it was the work of Niccolaand Giovanni Pisano and Arnolfo di Cambio. The Fountain of Sepali, at Viterbo, was erected in the Gothic style in 1206, and is unusually fine even for Viterbo, a town celebrated for its fountains, and called by the Italians "the city of beautiful women and beautiful fountains." The name " Sepali " is said to be a corruption of senza part, meaning "without equal." Another fountain at Viterbo, of great distinction of general design, although clumsy in some of its proportions, is that in the PiazzaVittorio Emanuele. The beautiful gardens of the Royal Palace at Caserta, which were built in 1752 by Charles III., contain aseries of fountains, of which two are shown in our plates. The rather complex groups of statuary, which represent various classic myths (that shown in our plate represents Acteon being pulled down by Diana's hounds), are the least satisfactory portions of the whole. The fountain was designed jointly by Vanv-telli.Violani and Brunelli.
The simple, and beautiful fountain in the Piazza di San Pietro in Rome, was designed by Stefano Maderna. The fountain of unusual design in the Piazza della Rocca at Viterbo is ascribed to Vignola.
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