The fountain made of stone from
Assisi was prepared in a workshop and then assembled in the square. The fountain consists of two concentric polygonal marble basins, on top a bronze cup (by Rosso Padellaio) decorated in its center with a bronze group of three feminine figures (
Charites, or perhaps
nymphs) holding an amphora out of which the water pours down into the basins. The lower basin is made up of 25 sides with compound columns at their edges, which have
spiral fluting or other geometric pattern. Each compartment has two pictorial panels divided by a single column. The reliefs illustrate the annual cycle with twelve scenes of daily life and farm work characteristic for each month, and the adequate
zodiac symbol added. As in other contemporary European art work,
Labours of the Months are shown in a dignified manner. Here, manual labour is in fact represented alongside the
arti liberali (
liberal arts), figures from the
Bible and the
history of Rome. They are displayed in the following order: • January – Aquarius – a gentleman and his wife at the hearth • February – Pisces – two fishermen • March – Aries – the
spinario | the pruning of the vineyard • April – Taurus – two allegories of spring • May – Gemini – two Knights on
Falconry • June – Cancer – the harvest | flailing • July – Lion – the wheat harvest | threshing of the wheat • August – Virgo – the fig harvest (man | woman) • September – Libra – the crushing of must | the grape harvest • October – Scorpion – the filling up of casks | the construction of casks • November – Sagittarius – the ploughing | the sowing • December – Capricorn – the slaughter of the pork • The
Guelph lion | the
Griffin of Perugia •
Grammar |
Dialectic •
Rhetoric |
Arithmetic •
Geometry |
Music •
Astronomy |
Philosophy • Two eagles (the one on the right bears the signature of Giovanni Pisano) • The
Original Sin | the
Expulsion from Eden •
Samson kills the lion | Samson and
Delilah •
Davide triumphant |
Golia defeated •
Romulus and Remus (represented as two falconers) • The
she-wolf that fed Romulus, Remus | their mother
Rhea Silvia •
The Fox and the Crane |
The Wolf and the Lamb, two
fables by
Aesop File:Perugia - Fontana Maggiore (sec. XIII) - Foto G. Dall'Orto 6 ago 2006 - 07.jpg|Detail of Fontana Maggiore File:Perugia - Fontana Maggiore - 1 - Mesi - 01 - Gennaio - Foto G. Dall'Orto 5 ago 2006.jpg|Aquarius and the month of January File:Perugia - Fontana Maggiore - 1 - Mesi - 02 - Febbraio - Foto G. Dall'Orto 5 ago 2006.jpg|The fishermen and the month of February File:Perugia - Fontana Maggiore - 1 - Mesi - 03 - Marzo - Foto G. Dall'Orto 5 ago 2006.jpg|The "Spinario", the Aries and the month of March File:Perugia - Fontana Maggiore - 1 - Mesi - 04 - Aprile - Foto G. Dall'Orto 5 ago 2006.jpg|The allegories of spring and the Taurus for the month of April File:Perugia - Fontana Maggiore - 1 - Mesi - 05 - Maggio - Foto G. Dall'Orto 5 ago 2006 1.jpg|Two Falconers for the month of May File:Perugia - Fontana Maggiore - 1 - Mesi - 06 - Giugno - Foto G. Dall'Orto 5 ago 2006 1.jpg|The harvest and the month of June File:Perugia - Fontana Maggiore - 1 - Mesi - 07 - Luglio - Foto G. Dall'Orto 5 ago 2006 1 Bearbeitung 1.jpg|The flailing and the threshing of wheat in July File:Perugia - Fontana Maggiore - 1 - Mesi - 08 - Agosto - Foto G. Dall'Orto 5 ago 2006.jpg|The fig harvest in August File:-10 Fontana Maggiore DSC4081.jpg|The harvest and crushing of grapes in September File:Perugia - Fontana Maggiore - 1 - Mesi - 10 - Ottobre - Foto G. Dall'Orto 5 ago 2006.jpg|The preparation of wine in October File:Perugia - Fontana Maggiore - 1 - Mesi - 11 - Novembre - Foto G. Dall'Orto 5 ago 2006.jpg|The ploughing and sowing - November File:Perugia - Fontana Maggiore - 1 - Mesi - 12 - Dicembre - Foto G. Dall'Orto 5 ago 2006.jpg|The slaughter of the pork in December File:Perugia - Fontana Maggiore - 1bis - Leone e grifone - Foto G. Dall'Orto 5 ago 2006.jpg|
Griffin and Lion, symbols of the city File:Perugia - Fontana Maggiore - 2 - Arti liberali - 1-2 - Grammatica e Dialettica - Foto G. Dall'Orto 5 ago 2006.jpg|Grammar and Dialectic File:Perugia 038.JPG|Rhetoric and Arithmetic File:Perugia 035.JPG|Astronomy and Philosophy The upper basin is supported by alternating compound columns and single columns, only slightly higher than the parapet of the ground basin. At each of its 24 edges standing figures represent saints and mythological and biblical characters from the New and Old Testament. the nymph of the
Lake Trasimeno. Then follow all the characters related to the city. In the opposite cardinal point, to the North, Euliste, the legendary founder of Perugia is depicted. To the West, Rome, related to the representation of the Roman Church and of
Divinitas excelsa and of Saints Peter and Paul. Another important character to the East is Saint John the Baptist for the role of the water as an essential and sacred element; it is also associated with
Salome and other biblical characters. The 24 statues represent: •
Saint Peter • The Church of Rome •
Roma caput mundi ("Rome, capital of the world") •
Divinitas excelsa •
Saint Paul • A Cleric of the
Cathedral San Lorenzo •
Saint Lawrence,
patron saint of the city • The nymph of
Chiusi (Roman
Domina Clusi) •
Augusta Perusia (the Roman name of Perugia in honor of Emperor
Augustus) •
Domina lacus, the nymph of the
Lake Trasimeno, who offers the fish to Perugia •
San Ercolano di Perugia (Saint Hercules), patron saint of the city • The Cleric traitor of San Ercolano •
Saint Benedict •
Salome •
John the Baptist •
Solomon •
David •
Moses • Matteo da Correggio,
podestà of Perugia •
The Archangel Michael • Euliste, the legendary founder of Perugia •
Melchizedek • Ermanno da Sassoferrato,
capitano del popolo •
Victoria In the lower frame of the second basin, Latin verses are carved; epigraphic abbreviations provide information on the authors and the date of the sculpture, and they are an invitation to examine and interpret the fountain:
Guarda tu che passi questa fontana dal lieto mormorio, se osservi bene puoi vedere cose mirabili…. ("Look, you who pass by this fountain with its babbling, if you look closer you can see wonderful things.") File:Cup bronze with nymphs of the Fontana Maggiore in Perugia.jpg|The bronze cup with the three nymphs File:Fontana Maggiore - panoramio.jpg|San Lorenzo,
Domina Clusi and
Augusta Perusia File:Perugia - Fontana Maggiore (sec. XIII) - Foto G. Dall'Orto 6 ago 2006 - 03.jpg|
Saint Benedict, Salome, John the Baptist, Salomon and David File:Perugia 030.JPG|The church, Rome and theology File:Perugia 065.JPG|
Saint Benedict == Stamp ==