Rome October 2007 » Fountains »  Viewing CampoDFiori_1     [Image 6 of 21]  :: Jump To  
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FontanaDeiTritone_1 * Triton Fountain The Triton Fountain by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, in Piazza Barberini, Rome Executed of travertine in 1642/43, an over-lifesize muscular Triton, a minor sea god of ancient Greco-Roman legend, is depicted as a merman kneeling on an opened scallop shell. He throws back his head to raise a conch to his lips: from it a jet of water spurts, formerly rising dramatically higher than it does today. The fountain has a base of four dolphins[1] that entwine the papal tiara with crossed keys and the heraldic Barberini bees in their scaly tails. The Tritone, first of Bernini's fountains, was erected to provide water from the Acqua Felice aqueduct, which Urban had restored, in a dramatic celebration. * 2304 x 3072 * (3.0MB)

FontanaDeiTritone_2 * 2304 x 3072 * (2.71MB)

FontanaQuirinale_1 * The Quirinale hill used to be called Montecavallo (Horse Hill) due to the presence of the large marble statues of the Dioscuri twins and their horses. The twins are the great horseman Castor and the formidable boxer Pollux, sons of Leda and Zeus and brothers of Helen of Troy. Originally, the Dioscuri twins stood on one side of the piazza looking westwards in front of the now defunct Terme di Costantino. Domenico Fontana had the statutes restored and dragged to the center of the piazza; he then turned them to the right and placed his fountain right below them. In 1782, Pope Pio VI Braschi decided to refurbish the piazza. The statues were separated, turned around one more time to form a 90 degree angle. One of the two obelisks that belonged to Emperor Cesare Augusto's mausoleum was erected between the statues. The old fountain was removed and was never seen again. When the basin from Campo Vaccino was about to be carried to the Quirinale hill on February 15, 1798, Rome was taken by Napoleon's troops. The fountain work came to a halt and the piazza was left for several years without a fountain. Following Napoleon's final defeat in Waterloo on 1815, the French occupation came to an end and the work was resumed. One year later, the fountain achieved its present look, with the basin set over a short baluster and a larger pool below it. Footnote: The Dioscuri are not full-time Greek gods. Only Pollux was granted immortality by Zeus, but he was allowed to share the gift with his twin. As a result, the two spend alternate days on Olympus as gods and in Hades as mortals. * 822 x 1233 * (638KB)

FontanaQuirinale_2 * 1536 x 2048 * (1.9MB)

FontanaQuirinale_3 * 1001 x 1501 * (948KB)
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CampoDFiori_1.JPG - 1079 x 1620 - (391KB)
10/16/07 11:13 AM
PiazzaMontiDPeita * 2048 x 1536 * (1.88MB)

PalazzoSpada_1 * 1536 x 2048 * (1.76MB)

PalazzoSpada_2 * 704 x 1056 * (461KB)

fontanadelleApi * 1536 x 2048 * (1.9MB)

Rome2007 009 * 1536 x 2048 * (1.81MB)
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