Statuary, Monuments & Structures
in the Villa Comunale
This
is n.4 in a series. To part 1; part 2;
part
3; part 5; part 6

This
happy fellow is atop the entrance at the extreme
south-east end of the villa, the corner of Piazza
Vittoria and the seaside road, via Caracciolo. He is
the first one you run into if you are coming over to
the park from a walk along the sea. He is the Faun Playing Cymbals and
Clapsticks—the former with the hands, the
latter with the right foot. I have tried that, and it
isn't easy. Again, he is one of the eight greeters
along the entrance and is certainly the most curious
one. It is, again, by Andrea Violani. The work is
dated 1763 and is a copy of an original at the Galleria degli Uffizzi
in Florence. It was moved from the Caserta Palace to
the Villa Comunale in 1834.
Below
left: Flora Campidoglio. Flora was the Roman
Goddess of flowers. This is a copy done in 1760 by
Tommaso Solari of an ancient original.
Below right: the Abduction of the Sabine Women,
done between 1762 and 1768, also by Solari. It is
a copy of an original by Giambologna (Jean
Boulogne, 1529-1608) currently in the Loggia Lanzi
in Florence.

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Castor
& Pollux, the Heavenly Twins,
the Dioscuri,
twin brothers transformed by Zeus into the
constellation Gemini so they might be together
forever. In mythology, they were generally seen as
benevolent patrons of travellers, sailors and
athletes. This, too, is by Solari, done between 1762
and 1768 and is a copy of an ancient original. It is
located at the south (seaside) entrance to the Dohrn
Aquarium. It is another of the many attractive
"fountain groups" in the villa. The figures are
posed over the basin of the fountain with their
backs to the sea.

This
large monument to pianist Sigismondo Thalberg
(1812-71) is the very last piece in the Villa
Comunale, standing at the extreme western end of
the park, where an exit used to be. The statue
was dedicated in Sept. 1879; the work is by the
prominent northern Italian sculptor Giulio
Monteverde (1837-1917).
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