Sphere Within Sphere is a bronze sculpture by Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro in the Courtyard of the Pinecone at the Vatican Museum. Versions of the sculpture can be seen in many settings worldwide.
The Fontana della Pigna or simply Pigna (“The Pine cone”) is a former Roman fountain which now decorates a vast niche in the wall of the Vatican facing the Cortile della Pigna, located in Vatican City, in Rome, Italy.
Composed of a large bronze pine cone almost four meters high which once spouted water from the top, the Pigna originally stood near the Pantheon next to the Temple of Isis. It was moved to the courtyard of the old St. Peter’s Basilica during the Middle Ages and then moved again, in 1608, to its present location.
The courtyard where it stands was originally part of the Cortile del Belvedere, designed by Donato Bramante to connect the palace of Pope Innocent VIII with the Sistine Chapel. When Bramante died, architect Pirro Ligorio finished the project and added the wall and niche to close the courtyard. Construction of the Vatican Library divided the Cortile del Belvedere into two areas. The upper part of the courtyard, the Cortile della Pigna, takes its name from the fountain.
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