When the Sicilian artist, Mario Rutelli, sculpted the statues for the Fountain of the Naiads he saved the central sculpture for last. Rutelli, probably disappointed by the lack of universal admiration for his work, sculpted a bizzarre group that featured three human figures, a dolphin and an octopus tangled together in a wrestle, and unveiled a model of it in mortar in 1911 before he sculpted the final version in bronze for the center of the fountain. The reception was poor, though, with the people nicknaming it "the fish fry of Termini". Rutelli went on to sculpt the more conventional group that stands on the fountain today: a single male figure embracing a dolphin. The "fish fry" can be found today in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele. In my opinion, it's a pretty awesome statue and would have been great in the center of the Fountain of the Naiads.

    

Rutelli's Fish Fry
See all Rutelli's Fish Fry photos.

• My Rutelli's Fish Fry photos