ph. Marc Buehler, Flickr
Restoration work recently began on the 16th-century fountain in the first courtyard of Palazzo Vecchio. Costing approximately 50 thousand euro, the restoration will be funded entirely by the 2014 edition of Muhammad Ali’s Celebrity Fight Night event.
Believed to have been based on a plan by Giorgio Vasari, the fountain was completed between 1555 and 1557, probably by Bartolomeo Ammannati. It was specifically commissioned for the center of the Michelozzo-designed courtyard, replacing Donatello’s bronze David, which was moved into the niche of the eastern portico but is housed in the Bargello Museum today. The fountain is topped by a putto figure designed by Verrocchio – the original is now housed in the inner rooms of Palazzo Vecchio while a copy in its place is subject to the running water and rain from above.
The restoration will include implementation of a new, more efficient water system. Until now, the fountain water has lacked filtering methods, resulting in impurities that have damaged the stone surfaces and exacerbated normal wear and tear. Work is expected to take until May 2016.
