Medieval Times

Rain was expected today so we grabbed our umbrellas and took the train to Perugia where there are plenty of museums to duck into during the stormy bits. Luckily we never had to open our umbrellas because we were indeed inside the museum during the thunderstorm. We enjoyed the sunshine and wandered about town. We walked across the old aqueduct and had lunch in the piazza next to the gigantic fountain…today’s blip topic. The medieval monumental marble fountain (extra) dominating Perugia’s central piazza was built 1275-1277 to celebrate the arrival of water to town by means of a new aqueduct. Bringing water uphill to Perugia without the help of pumps was indeed something to celebrate! The carved panels surrounding the two concentric basins describe the 12 months of the year. Each month is related to a zodiac symbol and shows scenes of daily life. Manual labor is represented together with the liberal arts, and women are represented alongside men. Quite egalitarian! The Fig Harvest represents the month of August (Virgo) and the men and women that collect the fruit (featured). A woman playing a lap harp and chimes represents music, and another using a divider represents Geometry (extra).