Fontana di Sala Grande

Ammanati received a major commission for the spectacular Fountain of Juno for the Sala Grande of the Palazzo Vecchio. The fountain was never erected in the hall but was set up out of doors at Pratolino; a drawing after Ammanati by Giovanni Guerra (Vienna, Albertina) shows six figures mounted around a rainbow, a fantastic design recalling the table decorations made by Mannerist goldsmiths. This was technically ingenious and amusingly erudite in its theme; it was called by Michelangelo ‘una bella fantasia’.

The handsome seated Juno, one of the six over life-size marble fountain figures (all in Bargello), has the active contrapposto pose and animated drapery characteristic of Ammanati.