Design for a Fountain with Neptune in his Chariot

Design for a Fountain with Neptune in his Chariot

Francesco Fontebasso

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Design for a fountain with the figure of Neptune in his chariot. The outline of the fountain describes a pyramid with Neptune on his shell-shaped chariot in the center at the top, flanked by two seated nymphs and four hippocampi at the bottom of the design drawing the chariot. In between the hippocampi, a putto on a dolphin is depicted. Below the horses a shell-shaped basin of water is indicates from which water seems to stream down.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Design for a Fountain with Neptune in his ChariotDesign for a Fountain with Neptune in his ChariotDesign for a Fountain with Neptune in his ChariotDesign for a Fountain with Neptune in his ChariotDesign for a Fountain with Neptune in his Chariot

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.