The "Fontana dei Mostaccini" (literally, "Fountain of the Little Ugly Faces")
is about all that remains of the "Ragnaia della Pace" (literally, "Spiderwebbery
of Peace"). This somewhat peculiar kind of bird-hunting was popular with Lorenzo
de'Medici and others of his time and social class; the fountain spouted water
from a succession of 16 'masks' and was a way to attract the birds. Typically,
a ragnaia was a carefully-pruned, precisely geometric area of shrubs and ilex.
Nets were hung up and 'beaters' would flush the small birds. The fountain
was a creation of Romolo Ferrucci del Tadda, most likely installed between
1619 and 1621. He also sculpted other animal statues one sees in the Gardens.
Turning to the right, we see a huge bust of Jupiter, executed by Giambologna
(who also sculpted the Statue
of Abundance) in white marble on a sandstone base, created in 1560. The
wall behind it dates from the 1300s.