The Baroque fountains of Rome.

Not only the surroundings of St. Peter’s Basilica, but all of Rome, were urbanized by Baroque architects and sculptors. Nowadays, the city of Rome is one of the cardinals and Popes of the times of the Baroque. Each prince of the Church urbanized the surroundings of his palace with new roads, squares and fountains. The three main roads that branch out from Piazza del Popolo forming what is now called the “trident” (il Tridente) -that is Via del Corso, Via del Babuino and Via Paolina– are all works from the 16th and 17th century. As starting point for these roads are the twin churches (chiese gemelle) of Santa Maria dei Miracoli (1681) and Santa Maria in Montesanto (1679), begun by Carlo Rainaldi and completed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Carlo Fontana.

Aerial view of the “trident” (il Tridente) in Piazza del Popolo (‘People’s square’) in Rome (Italy). Three streets branch out from the piazza into the city starting at the junction defined by the twin churches (the chiese gemelle) of Santa Maria dei Miracoli (1681) and Santa Maria in Montesanto (1679): the Via del Corso in the center; the Via del Babuino to the left (opened in 1525 as the Via Paolina) and the Via di Ripetta to the right (opened by Leo X in 1518 as the Via Leonina). Piazza del Popolo originally took its name from the poplar trees (genus Populus in Latin) after which the church of Santa Maria del Popolo located in the northeast corner of the piazza in turn takes its name. The piazza rests inside the northern gate in the Aurelian Walls, once the Porta Flaminia of ancient Rome, and now called the Porta del Popolo. This point of entry used to be the traveler’s first view of the city of Rome upon arrival.

Also Baroque is the monumental ensemble of Piazza di Spagna (‘Spanish Square’, so called because it sits in front of the Palazzo di Spagna, the seat of the Embassy of Spain to the Holy See), with its fountain called Fontana della Barcaccia (‘Fountain of the Boat’) as centerpiece, and its monumental staircase with Baroque ramps crowned by an ancient obelisk. The Fontana della Barcaccia dates from the beginning of the baroque and was sculpted by Pietro Bernini and his son, Gian Lorenzo. The 135-step staircase was inaugurated by Pope Benedict XIII in 1725; it was built to connect the then Bourbon Spanish embassy to the Church of Trinità dei Monti located at the top of the stairs, taking advantage of the steep slope on the side of the Pincian Hill. It was designed by Alessandro Specchi and Francesco De Sanctis. The final design involved a great staircase decorated with garden-terraces that would be adorned with flowers in spring and summer, a practice that is still follow to this day.

In the middle of the Piazza di Spagna (Rome, Italy) is the Fontana della Barcaccia sculpted by Pietro Bernini and his sons, Gian Lorenzo and Luigi. In 1623, Pope Urban VIII commissioned Pietro Bernini to build this fountain as part of a Papal project to erect a fountain in every major piazza in Rome. The fountain was completed between 1627 and 1629 by Pietro with the help of his sons Gian Lorenzo and Luigi. The fountain was sculpted in the shape of a half-sunken boat with water overflowing its sides into a small basin. The source of the water comes from the Acqua Vergine an ancient Roman aqueduct from 19 BCE. Bernini purposedly built this fountain slightly below street level due to the low water pressure from the aqueduct. The fountain is full of allusions: water coming out of a boat designed to transport wine evokes the feelings of plenty and joy, this was related to the city of Rome under the rule of Pope Urban VIII, then identified as the Land of Plenty.

The Baroque fountains of Rome are one of its characteristic features and have been popularized and romanticized in modern times thanks to movies and media. The fountains of Rome operate purely by gravity, the water source has to be higher than the fountain itself, and thus the difference in elevation and distance between the source and the fountain determined how high the water is shooting into the air. After the fall of Rome, torrents of water continued to flow into the city through several ancient aqueducts. Rome was thus provided with much more water than it was needed, as in Baroque times the city was less populous than it was during the time of the Caesars. The architects of the 16th and 17th centuries took advantage of this water surplus to embellish Rome with fountains that are still today its best ornament and that have been imitated throughout the world. The two most copied fountains are those of Trevi, so called because it is fed by the water brought by the aqueduct that comes from Trevi, and the Acqua Paola, which brings water from Lake Bracciano, a project ordered by Pope Paul III.

The Fontana dell’Acqua Paola (‘Fountain of the Paola water’) (Janiculum Hill, Rome, Italy) was designed by Giovanni Fontana and Flaminio Ponzio. It was built in 1612 to mark the end of the Acqua Paola aqueduct, restored by Pope Paul V (hence its name). Pope Paul V decided to rebuild and extend the ruined Acqua Traiana ancient aqueduct built by Emperor Trajan in order to create a source of clean drinking water for the residents of the Janiculum Hill. The source of the fountain is a spring near Lake Bracciano, not far from Rome. The fountain was built using white marble from the nearby ruins of the Roman Temple of Minerva in the Forum of Nerva. At the top of the fountain are the papal tiara and keys, above the Borghese family (the Pope’s family) coat of arms of an eagle and a dragon, supported by angels. The main theme of the Fontana dell’Acqua Paola was water: five abundant streams poured through the arches into five marble basins. In 1690 Carlo Fontana designed an additional semicircular pool for the water which overflowed from the marble basins. The form of the fountain served as an inspiration for the later Trevi Fountain (see pictures below).

In the Fontana di Trevi, a work by architects Nicola Salvi and Giuseppe Pannini completed in the 18th century, we see the graceful affectation brought by the sight of rustic stone that was so characteristic of the Baroque. Their designers wanted to imitate natural rocks through which water flows perennially as in a river bed. On the other hand, as a background there’s a palace façade with classical lines, columns and sculptures, as if the charm of the nymphs and the freshness of a stream had wanted to move to the interior of the populous city. This day, the Fontana di Trevi is the largest and most spectacular of Rome’s fountains, designed to glorify the three different Popes who were involved with its creation (Pope Clement XII, Pope Benedict XIV and Pope Clement XIII) whose emblems and inscriptions are placed on the attic level, entablature and central niche. The fountain was started in 1730 at the end point of the reconstructed Acqua Vergine ancient aqueduct. The central figure is Oceanus, the personification of all the seas and oceans, in an oyster-shell chariot, surrounded by Tritons and Sea Nymphs.

The Fontana di Trevi (‘Trevi Fountain’) (Trevi district, Rome, Italy) was designed by Italian architect Niccolò Salvi in 1732 and completed by Giuseppe Pannini and several other artists in 1762. It is the largest Baroque fountain of Rome standing 26.3 mt high and 49.15 mt wide. The fountain marks the terminal point of the revived Acqua Vergine (Aqua Virgo) aqueduct that supplied water to ancient Rome. This ancient aqueduct led the water into the ancient Baths of Agrippa. The name of the fountain derives from the Latin word trivium (intersection of three streets): the leading statue is located right in the center of Via De’Crocicchi, Via Poli and Via Delle Muratte. The background for the fountain is the Palazzo Poli, which was then given a new façade with a giant order of Corinthian pilasters that link the two main floors. The sculptural program mixes water, rocks and exempt sculptures: Tritons blowing their giant cone shells guide Oceanus’s (Neptune) shell chariot, while taming hippocamps (see-horses); all articulated on a rocky substrate. In the center, a triumphal arch frames a giant niche as a backdrop for the figure of Oceanus. In the niches flanking Oceanus, Abundance (left) spills water from her urn and Salubrity (right) holds a cup from which a snake drinks. Above, bas reliefs represent the Roman origin of the aqueducts.

We can see the Fontana di Trevi as the apotheosis of the Baroque interpretation of the value of the water and it represents one of the rare occasions in which sculpture and architecture are not only present on an equal level, but complement each other. The fountain was not simply accommodated by the piazza in which it rests, but the space of the piazza itself became an integral part of the monument.

Detail of a hippocampus and a Triton from the Fontana di Trevi. Tritons and hippocamps (sea-horses) provide symmetrical balance as well as contrast and movement thanks to their poses and mood.

Another famous fountain of Rome is the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (‘Four Rivers Fountain’), executed in 1648-1651 by Bernini and his disciples, as the monumental centerpiece of Piazza Navona. Here, too, we see the same mixture of rusticity and architecture: the fountain base is like a giant rock, carved resembling its natural forms, with plants and mosses skillfully sculpted. On this rock rest four allegorical figures representing the largest rivers in the world known at the time (the Nile, Danube, Plata River and Ganges); water gushes through the veins of the stone, dripping incessantly through all the cracks, and on its top stands an ancient Egyptian obelisk (16 m height) with its geometric shapes and crowned by a cross with the emblem of the Pamphili family, representing Pope Innocent X, as their palace was on the piazza.

The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (‘Fountain of the Four Rivers’) is the centerpiece of Piazza Navona in Rome. It was designed in 1651 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and commissioned by Pope Innocent X whose family palace, the Palazzo Pamphili, faced the piazza. The fountain was executed by a large group of artists under the supervision of Bernini. The fountain represents the four continents and major rivers associated with them at the time, the obelisk in the center is the symbol of Christ and the triumphing Roman Catholic Church over other beliefs, empires and the whole world.

The base of the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi is a large basin from whose center travertine rocks rise to support the figures of four river gods, all surmounted by an Egyptian-style obelisk, that was moved from the Circus of Maxentius, and topped with the Pamphili family emblem of a dove with an olive twig. This fountain is Bernini’s largest and most spectacular fountain, a masterpiece of engineering and urban planning, and a marvel of art. Bernini’s design boldly pierced the base on all sides, thus opening the view through and making the massive obelisk appear to float weightlessly above the figures. Thus, the fountain becomes a theater in the round, a spectacle of action, that can be seen from around.

The four giant male figures of river-gods of the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi represent the then known four major rivers of the four continents through which papal authority had spread: the Nile representing Africa, the Danube representing Europe, the Ganges representing Asia, and the Río de la Plata representing the Americas. Each has animals and plants associated with them, and each includes a certain number of allegories and metaphors. The Ganges (top left, sculpted by Claude Poussin) carries a long oar, representing the river’s navigability. The Nile’s (top right, sculpted by Jacopo Antonio Fancelli) head is covered with a piece of cloth, because at the time the Nile’s source waters were unknown. The Danube (bottom right, sculpted by Antonio Raggi) touches the Pope’s coat of arms, since it is the large river closest to Rome. And the Río de la Plata (bottom left, sculpted by Francesco Baratta) is sitting on a pile of coins, symbolizing the riches of America.

The visitor experience Piazza Navona as a grand theater of water with its three fountains, placed in a line on what was the ancient Stadium of Domitian. The fountains at either end are by Giacomo della Porta; at the north end of the piazza is the Fontana del Nettuno (‘Neptune fountain’, base sculpted in 1574) showing the God of the Sea spearing an octopus and surrounded by Tritons, sea horses and mermaids. At the opposite (southern) end is the Fontana del Moro (‘Fountain of the Moor’), representing either a figure of an African (a Moor) or of Neptune wrestling with a dolphin. At the time Moors were seen as exotic and thus fitted perfectly with the theatrical and ornamental purposes of the Baroque. In the center is the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, the epitome of a theatrical fountain.

In the site today occupied by Piazza Navona (right) used to stand the ancient stadium of the Emperor Domitian (left) built in the 1st century AD. The piazza together with the adjacent buildings show the footprint of the old Roman construction. The ancient Romans went to this stadium to watch the agones (“games”), and hence it was known as “Circus Agonalis” (or ‘competition arena’). Over the time the word agone changed to in avone to navone and eventually to navona. The church in the piazza still makes allusion to the old name Sant’Agnese in Agone.

Aerial view of Piazza Navona, with its three fountains and the church of Sant’Agnese in Agone to the right.

View of Piazza Navona from behind of the Fontana del Moro.

The Fontana del Moro (‘Fountain of the Moor’), at the southern end of the Piazza Navona, was originally designed by Giacomo della Porta in the 1570s with later contributions from Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the 1650s. Giovanni Antonio Mari sculpted the central figure following designs by Bernini. The fountain represents an African Moor, other interpretations identify it with Neptune, standing in a conch shell, wrestling with a dolphin, surrounded by four Tritons. In between each triton, are four masks that shoot water from their mouths and each has a pair of dolphins on either side and a dragon behind. The fountain is placed in a basin of rose-colored marble.

The Fontana del Nettuno (‘Fountain of Neptune’) is located at the north end of the Piazza Navona. Its basin was designed in 1574 by Giacomo Della Porta. For 300 years, the fountain didn’t have any statues. The fountain as is today was completed in 1878 by Antonio della Bitta, who sculpted the figure of Neptune fighting with an octopus, and Gregorio Zappalà, who carved the other sculptures, based on the mythological theme of the Nereids with Cupids and walruses.

Other times the fountains are simply sculptural, like the Fontana delle Tartarughe (‘Turtle Fountain’), with bronze ephebes gracefully combined with piles of colored marble. Like all Renaissance-Baroque fountains, it was designed to supply drinking water to the Roman population and was among other 18 new fountains built in Rome in the 16th century following the restoration of the first century Roman aqueduct, the Acqua Vergine, by Pope Gregory XIII. This fountain is one of the few in Rome built not for a Pope, but for a private patron: Muzio Mattei who was a member of the House of Mattei, a family of bankers and politicians. The fountain includes bronze statues of four ephebes, or young adolescent men, and eight dolphins. There are also four marble conch shells surrounding the base of the fountain. Water pours out of the mouths of the dolphins into the conch shells, then into the larger basin below. The original fountain design included four bronze dolphins on the upper basin, supported by the raised hands of the four young men. Because of the low water pressure, the four dolphins were removed, and the raised hands of the statues had then no purpose. To correct this problem and to balance the composition, the four turtles around the edge of the upper basin were added between 1658 and 1659. They are usually attributed either to Gian Lorenzo Bernini or Andrea Sacchi.

The Fontana delle Tartarughe (“Turtle Fountain’, Piazza Mattei, Rome, Italy) was built between 1580 and 1588 by the architect Giacomo della Porta and the sculptor Taddeo Landini. The bronze turtles around the upper basin are usually attributed either to Gian Lorenzo Bernini or Andrea Sacchi, and were added in either 1658 or 1659.

On occasions, the builders of these fountains proposed incredible effects, although in ways influenced by naturalism, like in the Fontana del Tritone (‘Triton Fountain’), also by Bernini, in the square adjacent to the gardens of the Barberini palace. Mounted on a stone shell, a muscular triton, holding a sea horn, shoots up a jet of water that sprays high in the air as the wind blows.

The Fontana del Tritone (‘Triton Fountain’) was commissioned to Gian Lorenzo Bernini by his patron, Pope Urban VIII to be placed in what is now called Piazza Barberini, near the entrance to the Palazzo Barberini (which now houses the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica) that Bernini helped to design and construct for the Barberini, Urban’s family. The fountain was carved in travertine between 1642 and 1643. At its center depicts a Triton kneeling atop four dolphin tailfins that support large shells. With his arms he raises a conch to his lips giving the illusion that he blows through it propelling a water jet into the air. The Triton rests on a base formed by four dolphins that support the papal tiara and two large shells where he kneels on. The Tritone was erected to provide water from the Acqua Felice aqueduct which Urban had restored. In this motif of the Triton, Bernini tried to illustrate a triumphant passage from Ovid’s Metamorphoses Book I, evoking godlike control over the waters and describing the draining away of the Universal Deluge, a passage well known by the literate people of the time.

Another work by Bernini, though not a fountain but with the same ornamental purpose, is the graceful monument located in front of the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, a small obelisk, placed on top of a sculpture of an elephant caparisoned in Baroque style. Here, the statue of the elephant serves as a decorative base for the red granite obelisk that was discovered in 1665 in the garden of the Cloister of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. The obelisk was probably brought to Rome in the first century AD for the temple to the Egyptian goddess Isis that was located there, but it was originally erected by Pharaoh Apries of the 26th Dynasty of Egypt (about 580 BC), in his capital Sais. The obelisk is 5.47 meters tall and is the smallest of the 13 ancient obelisks present in Rome today. Together with pedestal and elephant, though, the monument stands 12.69 meters tall.

The obelisco della Minerva (known in English as the ‘Elephant and Obelisk’) represents an elephant carrying an obelisk. It was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and placed in 1667 in the Piazza della Minerva, adjacent to the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva (Rome).

The elephant statue possibly originated from the Hypnerotomachia Polyphili (‘Poliphilo’s Strife of Love in a Dream’ or ‘The Dream of Poliphilus’) first published in 1499. The marble elephant was probably carved by Bernini’s assistant Ercole Ferrata following his design. The Latin inscription at one side of the pedestal reads: “Let any beholder of the carved images of the wisdom of Egypt on the obelisk carried by the elephant, the strongest of beasts, realize that it takes a robust mind to carry solid wisdom.”

Another view of the obelisco della Minerva with the Pantheon of Rome rising behind.