The Bartolomeo Ammannati’s Fountain: an artifact in progress

Artifacts are not only fundamental evidences of our history and culture, but they are even entities having a proper "life". The present research focuses on Bartolomeo Ammannati's Juno Fountain (1555) – a Late-Renaissance masterpiece whose eventful story made it moving around from its planned site, the "Sala Grande" in Florentine Palazzo Vecchio, to Pratolino Park, then to Boboli Garden. Finally, current fragments re-assembling and museography staging under the vaults of the National Museum of Bargello court in Florence has been set up a few years ago on the 5th centenary of Ammannati's birthdate – after careful historical research about the many vicissitudes of the Fountain. Although there isn't any location change expected for this Ammannati's artwork, investigations and researches are going on. Namely, the seismic performance of the reconstructed Fountain is to be checked with reference to the seismic hazard of the site, as provided by the Italian Code classification. To this objective, the previously done laser scanning which allowed a three-dimensional digital modeling to help re-assembling the Fountain, has been now adopted to perform the structural analysis. Consequently, a structural evaluation to check the setting's seismic behavior is currently under process. The research, developed by joining different knowledges and fields, is an example of the importance of a multidisciplinary approach for preserving artifacts and museums' collections.