Giambologna's 11-meter stone giant with a fireplace in its skull

In the late 1580s, the sculptor Giambologna carved an 11-meter stone personification of the Apennine Mountains. The statue depicts an elderly man crouched at the shore of a lake, with hair and beard morphing into stalactites and aquatic vegetation to show the metamorphosis of man and mountain. This design was likely inspired by descriptions of a mountain-like Atlas in Ovid's Metamorphoses or the Aeneid of Virgil.

The figure served as a complex water source for the fountains and secret water plays of the Villa di Pratolino. A secret network of water pipes allowed the giant to sweat and weep, while his left hand squeezed the head of a sea monster from whose mouth water emanated into a pond. Within the giant's body are three levels of chambers and caves. One holds an octagonal fountain dedicated to the Greek goddess Thetys, while others display mining scenes. A chamber in the upper floor was large enough for a small orchestra, and a chamber in the head held a fireplace that vented smoke through the nostrils.

Francesco I de' Medici enjoyed fishing while sitting in the head chamber, throwing his line through one of the eye slits. At night, the chamber was illuminated with torches, which made the eyes appear to glow in the dark. In 1690, the sculptor Giovan Battista Foggini demolished a cave-like structure at the back of the statue and built a dragon to adorn it. It is assumed the dragon's belly served as a fireplace while its neck and head functioned as a chimney. The statue, which originally appeared to be emerging from its environment like a living being, remains accessible to the public today in the Prato del Appennino, about 10 kilometres north of Florence.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons