Fountain of the Ninfa Zizza in Militello Val di Catania
The Fountain of the Ninfa Zizza is located inside the courtyard of the Branciforti Castle, in Militello in Val di Catania.
The construction of the monument, dating back to 1607, celebrates the arrival of drinking water in the city. It was one of the public works that had the purpose of handing down the industrious government of Prince Francesco Branciforte to posterity.
At the center of the composition is a bas-relief, attributed to Giandomenico Gagini jr. based on a stylistic comparison, flanked by two heads of lions placed inside as many niches. At the base an octagonal basin is surmounted by a satyr mask.
The bas-relief is in finely sculpted white marble and depicts the Nymph Zizza half-length. This, inserted inside a niche, is represented frontally, with the left hand holding the breast from which the water flows, while with the index of the right hand it indicates an open scroll, arranged along the profile of the arch, inside which the inscription: “non sime temperancia” is visible. In the base of the bas-relief the inscription is completed by the words: “qvi sitis parce mentiri”.
The original of the Bas-relief is kept in the former Convent of San Domenico to be preserved from the deterioration to which it was subject due to the continuous flow of the 'water, and was replaced by a copy.
