Why to visit it: It is the mythological representation of Aretusa’s metamorphosis narated by Ovid.
The Fountain was created by the sculptor Giulio Moschetti (1847-1910), nicknamed “the sculptor of the Mediterranean”.
He was a disciple of Giorgio Paci, a neoclassical artist, from whom he drew love for rigidly classical forms, which certainly represent the backbone of his formation.
For health reasons, the artist moved to Catania city with a mild climate, and here he produced several works such as The Rat of Proserpina of 1904, for the fountain at the train station, similar to the tones and accents to the Fountain of Diana.
The work is the result of a stylistic eclecticism, which looks at the classic models of Greco-Roman art, but that combines naturalism and floral style, paying homage to the most famous myth of the city of Syracuse, the metamorphosis of Aretusa.
It was made of raw concrete in 1906, at the time when this substance became part of the range of materials for sculpture.
Moschetti gave birth to the sculptural complex in just ten months: from the mold, in which the mixture of concrete and sand is cast, to the completed shape that replaced the lamppost originally in the center of the square.
His son Mario collaborated at the opera.
The Fountain looks south and not at the Main street, which did not yet exist, having been realized as a result of the fascist gutting.
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☞ Siracusa itinerary