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Fountain of Orion: Overall view
Architecture Library, Hesburgh Libraries
In September 1547 Montorsoli travelled to Messina to produce the Fountain of Orion in front of the cathedral. The elaborately carved marble basin supports four reclining river-gods, the first use of such a formula in Renaissance art and also the first example of an urban fountain with symbolism directly related to water; a statue of the city's founder, Orion, surmounts two further basins.