Statues of Neptune

La Statua di Nettuno

The Maserati Brothers founded the company, SOCIETA ANONIMA OFFICINE ALFIERI MASERATI, in Bologna on the 14th December 1914. The badge shows Neptune's trident, the ancient symbol of the city of Bologna.

In the centre of Bologna lies the Piazza Maggiore. Adjacent to this lies the smaller Piazza del Nettuno in which stands a fountain whose centrepiece is a statue of Neptune holding his trident.

It was this statue that gave Mario Maserati, the only brother who showed little interest in mechanics and wanted to become an artist, the inspiration behind his design of the Trident of today. If fact you will often hear Maserati referred to as the 'Casa del Tridente' (House of the Trident).

The badge that appeared on the first Maserati to race, the Tipo 26.

The Maserati factory moved to Modena in 1938 following the transfer of ownership to the Orsi family. The Orsi Family , who were wealthy industrialists, were based in Modena so it made practical sense to move the factory there. Bear in mind that at that time the Maserati factory was little than a large workshop. As part of the transfer agreement, the Maserati brothers remained with the factory for a period of ten years. It is said that the brothers left the very day that the ten years were up. They then carried on making their own race cars, OSCAs, but the badge stayed with Maserati.

The first Maserati to race with the 'Trident' badge raced in 1926.

On my recent visit to Bologna, I naturally wanted to see the statue of Neptune in the Piazza del Nettuno. Typically, I chose the wrong time of day to take photographs as the statue was 'in the shade'. This did not, however, take away my sense of emotion on seeing the statue of Neptune with his trident for the first time. I stood there for several moments wondering at what had inspired Mario Maserati to chose the trident as the motif for his brothers' race cars and if he had realised then that it would become one of the most important badges in motor racing history for over sixty years.

My photo of the statue of Neptune in the Piazza Maggiore, Bologna (taken at the wrong time of the day).

Now no matter how much I wanted, I could hardly take the original statue back to England with me; there were too many people watching. I then considered the next best thing, to purchased a smaller replica statuette.

Off I went in search of the statuette inquiring in several gift shops, tabacconists even the odd bar, where I stopped for refreshments, as I made my way back to the car. It seemed the more I looked the chances of my finding one lessened. A parking space close to the centre is very, very hard to find in the centre of Bologna so my walk back to the car was a good mile and a half.

I lost count of the number of shops I ventured into on my way back, but believe me it was a fair few! So far the only statuette I had been offered was poor old Neptune missing his trident, this just wouldn't do!

I had all but given up hope when I entered yet another small tabacconist and gingerly asked if they sold or knew where I could find statuettes of Neptune. The kind old lady seemed delighted I'd asked as she disappeared into the back room. I thought she had misunderstood my Italian, something that's quite easy to do. After a short wait she returned with a delightful little bronze statuette. My immediate thought was that it might have been sitting on her mantlepiece and she was delighted to rid herself of it. She disappeared again and returned accompanied by her husband with three more examples. This presented me with something of a dilemma, which one should I buy? After some consideration I made my purchase and left the shop with my statue. Well, that's not strictly true, I bought all four!

STATUE No 1 A bronze statuette standing on a marble base. The bronze figure of Neptune including trident measures 130mm high, marble base measures 75mm high and the overall height of the statuette is 205mm.

	STATUE No 2 A resin (it is moulded from a mixture of powdered marble and resin) statuette of Neptune with a bronze-look finish, holding a brass trident, mounted on a marble base. The figure of Neptune including trident measures 190mm high, marble base measures 50mm high and the overall height of the statuette is 240mm.

STATUE No 3 A resin (it is moulded from a mixture of powdered marble and resin) statuette of Neptune with a bronze-look finish, holding a bronze trident, standing on a marble base. The figure of Neptune with bronze trident measures 310mm high, marble base measures 40mm high and the overall height of the statue is 350mm.

	STATUE No 4 A magnificent brass finished resin (it is moulded from a mixture of powdered marble and resin) statuette of Neptune holding a bronze trident standing on a marble base. The figure of Neptune with trident measures 330mm high, marble base measures 50mm high and the overall height of the statue is 380mm.

STATUE No 5 A solid bronze statue of Neptune, holding his trident, standing on a bronze base. The figure of Neptune with bronze trident measures 310mm high, marble base measures 40mm high and the overall height of the statue is 350mm.