After two years of restoration work, Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona is finally free of its scaffolding and the results are spectacular.
In addition to basic cleaning, ACEA, which provides water for the fountain, installed a new circulation system to this and the other two fountains in the square; the water is being filtered and re-circulated, in order to reduce the calcium encrustations on the fountains. Air pollution in the vicinity of the fountain is now being monitored and finally there a system that gives very low voltage shocks to pigeons and other birds in order to prevent them from settling on the fountain and damaging its travertine with their excrement and claws has been installed.
The fountain was originally constructed in 1651 by Pope Innocent X (1644-1655). Not a big fan of Gianlorenzo Bernini as previous popes had been, Innocent X forced Bernini to compete for the commission. The circumstances of his victory are described by his biographer, Filippo Baldinucci, as follows:
So strong was the sinister influence of the rivals of Bernini on the mind of Innocent X that when he planned to set up in Piazza Navona the great obelisk brought to Rome by the Emperor Caracalla which had been buried for a long time at for the adornment of a magnificent fountain, the Pope had designs made by the leading architects of Rome without an order for one to Bernini. Prince Niccolò Ludovisi, whose wife was niece to the pope, persuaded Bernini to prepare a model, and arrange for it to be secretly installed in a room in the Palazzo Pamphilj which the Pope had to pass. When the meal was finished, seeing such a noble creation, he stopped almost in ecstasy. Being prince of the keenest judgment and the loftiest ideas, after admiring it, said: “This is a trick … It will be necessary to employ Bernini in spite of those who do not wish it, for he who desires not to use Bernini’s designs, must take care not to see them.”
This fountain depicts four male river gods who personify the four great rivers in the four continents known by Renaissance geographers: the Nile in Africa, the Ganges in Asia, the Danube in Europe, and the Rio del la Plata in America. Also associated with each river god are animals and plants that further the geographical associations.
Above the river gods rises an Egyptian obelisk, brought to Rome in antiquity, re-erected by Bernini, and topped with the symbol of Innocent X Pamphili’s family, the dove with an olive branch in its beak. Below the river gods, water flows and splashes from a jagged and pierced mountainous disorder of travertine marble.
The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi was unveiled to the populace of Rome on 12th June 1651. According to a report from the time, an event was organised to draw people to the Piazza Navona. Beforehand, wooden scaffolding, overlaid with curtains, had hidden the fountain, though probably not the obelisk. People would obviously have had an idea of something being built, but the precise details were unknown. Once unveiled, the full majesty of the fountain would be apparent, and this celebrations was designed to advertise this. The festival was paid for by Innocent X. The most conspicuous item on the Pamphili crest, an olive branch, were brandished by the performers who took part in the event.
The author of the report, Antonio Bernal, takes his readers through the hours leading up to the unveiling. The celebrations were announced by a woman, dressed as the allegorical character of Fame, being paraded around the streets of Rome on a carriage or float. She was sumptuously dressed, with wings attached to her back, and a long trumpet in her hand. Bernal notes that “she went gracefully through all the streets and all the districts that are found among the seven hills of Rome, often blowing the round bronze [the trumpet], and urging everyone to make their way to that famous Piazza.” A second carriage followed her; this time another woman was dressed as the allegorical figure of Curiosity. According to the report, she continued exhorting the people to go towards the piazza. Bernal describes the clamor and noise of the people as they discussed the upcoming event.
The report is actually less detailed about the process of publicly unveiling the fountain. However, it does give ample descriptions of the responses of the spectators who had gathered in the Piazza. Once there, Bernal notes, the citizens of the city were overwhelmed by the massive fountain, with its huge life-like figures. The report mentions the “enraptured souls” of the population, the fountain, which “gushes out a wealth of silvery treasures” causing “no little wonder” in the onlookers. Bernal then continues to describe the fountain, making continual reference to the seeming naturalism of the figures and astonishing effect this had on those in the piazza.
450 years later, we join the ranks of those wowed and astonished by Bernini’s work.
