It was in April 2013 that we took a trip to the south of Florence on our valiant but since sadly departed Fiat Cinquina without any particular aim in mind. In Italy, directions to places of interest are indicated by brown-coloured signs. One such notice, south of Grassina, captured our attention: “fonte di Fata Morgana” – the enchantress Morgana’s fount (remember your Ariosto and ‘King Arthur’s Morgan le Fay?)
(The Enchantress Morgan Le Fay by Frederick Sandys)
A delightfully narrow road directed us through olive groves with branches reminiscent of Daphne’s arboreal transformation to escape the attentions of Apollo.
And then we were at the fount – an ornamental water feature once decorating the gardens of Count Vecchietti and dating back to 1522.
An inscription on a wall plays on the count’s surname (which also means “old men”) translatable thus:
Reader, I am that enchantress Morgana
Who, young, made others young:
Here at the old man’s because I once was old,
Made young again by his fountain.
We were unable to test the water’s claims since the gate leading to the source was firmly shut. What a pity!
Seven years later we were finally able to touch the waters of the enchanted fountain. We had contacted the comune of Bagno a Ripoli who now owns the property and Silvia from the comune kindly allowed us access. However, she dissuaded us from drinking the waters on health grounds!
In the Italian sixteenth century artificial grottoes became increasingly important elements of garden design. In Florence there are two well-known examples by Buontalenti in the Boboli gardens and the fashion spread to such villas as those at Pratolino and Castello. The Fonte di Fata Morgana belongs to this tradition which extended into northern Europe; Alexander Pope for example, was enamoured of the grotto he built for his villa at Twickenham.
The Fonte was built by Bernardo Vecchietti between 1573 and 1574 on a spring that was located in the land surrounding his villa called “Il Riposo” on the slopes of the Fattucchia hill. Raffaello Borghini described it in his 1584 book. Inside, the source was decorated with the marble statue of the Fata Morgana to which the source is dedicated, sculpted by Giambologna. Unfortunately the statue has gone from its original location and is now in a private collection.
The building is L-shaped and built as a theatrical backdrop. The entrance and the windows are finished in Alberese stone and the architraves have rusticated gables. On the left there is a sixteenth-century tabernacle in pietra serena.
Inside the building there is a fountain consisting of a basin in pietra serena, supported by a rough base whose shape recalls a mermaid’s tail. The water that should overflow from the stone basin cascades into the hexagonal basin below, at the centre of which is the brick base that once supported the statue of the Fata Morgana.
Regrettably no water has flowed for some time now.
On the sides of the fountain, two symmetrical portals complete the setting. From the one on the left, via a small staircase, you can access the upper level where there are small rooms, one of which was used as a kitchen.
The whole seems to have been created to amaze the viewer with a magical and fantastic feeling expressed by the decorative and architectural elements of the source and enhanced by the charm of the surrounding countryside which envelops the Nymphaeum in an almost unreal atmosphere.
Recently acquired by the Municipality of Bagno a Ripoli, the Fonte Della Fata Morgana has been restored by the Superintendence for Architectural Heritage and Landscape and for the Historical, Artistic and Demo-ethno-anthropological Heritage for the Provinces of Florence, Pistoia and Prato. In 2016 the Municipality promoted a crowdfunding action to obtain resources for its maintenance.
It was lovely to be able to finally enter into the secret chambers of the Fata Morgana seven years later. The number seven indeed holds a magical significance especially for us as we were married on the seventh day of the seventh month of nineteen seventy seven. We would like to thank Silvia who at such short notice enabled us to visit Fata Morgana’s house. We are still unable, however, to verify that the waters truly restore our youth. At least they took us back seven years!