Renaissance Water Fountains Of Tuscany

There were two broad classes of Tuscan water fountains known in the fifteenth century: the freestanding or “isolated” type, designed for the center of a piazza, court, or garden; and the “engaged” or wall foun¬tain, placed against a wall at the end of a square or courtyard.

The only example of a Florentine wall fountain from this period is the handsome structure of pietra serena in the court of the Palazzo Orlandini, now the property of the Banca del Monte dei Paschi. This consists of a single niche crowned by an arch and framed by classical pilasters, the water falling from an ornamental spout within the recess into a basin placed at its foot.
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