Schonbrunn Neptune fountain

Sited at the foot of the hill behind the palace and designed as the crowning element of the Great Parterre is the Neptune Fountain. It was conceived as part of the overall design of the gardens and park commissioned by Maria Theresa in the 1770s. Excavations for the pool began in 1776 and the fountain was completed four years later, just before the death of the empress. It was very probably designed by Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg, while the sculptural group of Sterzing marble was executed by Wilhelm Beyer. A retaining wall curving back into the slope of the hill, its balustrade crowned with vases, forms the back wall of the vast basin. At the centre the wall is interrupted by a projecting, semi-oval plinth from which rises a rocky landscape peopled with the sea-god Neptune and his entourage. Retaining wall and plinth are articulated by blind panels, those on the plinth being decorated with masks, while the vertical elements separating them are embellished with garlands. At the centre of the figural group above a rocky grotto stands Neptune in a shell-shaped chariot, his trident in his hand. Read more about Schonbrunn Neptune fountain

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