Fontana del Tritone | |
|---|---|
| Fountain | |
 Fontana del Tritone by Gian Lorenzo Bernini | |
| Design | Gian Lorenzo Bernini |
| Location | Piazza Barberini,Rome,Italy |
 Interactive map of Fontana del Tritone | |
| Coordinates:41°54′13″N12°29′18″E / 41.90361°N 12.48833°E /41.90361; 12.48833 | |
Fontana del Tritone (Triton Fountain) is a seventeenth-century fountain in Rome, by theBaroque sculptorGian Lorenzo Bernini. Commissioned by his patron, PopeUrban VIII, the fountain is located in thePiazza Barberini,[1] near the entrance to thePalazzo Barberini (which now houses theGalleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica) that Bernini helped to design and construct for theBarberini, Urban's family.[a] This fountain should be distinguished from the nearbyFontana dei Tritoni (Fountain of the Tritons) byCarlo Francesco Bizzaccheri inPiazza Bocca della Verità which features two Tritons.
Thefountain was executed intravertine in 1642–43. Pope Urban VIII wanted a public ornament for the city and also a utility service to place in the center of the square dominated by his family's brand-new palace.[2] At its centre rises a larger than lifesize muscularTriton, a minor sea god of ancient Greco-Roman legend, depicted as amerman kneeling on a large shell, from which the Triton rises. His head is thrown back and his arms raise aconch to his lips; from it a jet of water spurts, formerly rising dramatically higher than it does today. The fountain has a base of fourdolphins[b] that entwine thepapal tiara with crossed keys and the heraldicBarberini bees in their scaly tails.[c][3]
TheTritone, the first of Bernini's free-standing urban fountains, was erected to provide water from theAcqua Felice aqueduct which Urban had restored.[2] It was Bernini's last major commission from his great patron who died in 1644. At the Triton Fountain, Urban and Bernini brought the idea of a sculptural fountain, familiar fromvilla gardens, decisively to a public urban setting for the first time; previous public fountains in the city of Rome had been passive basins for the reception of public water.
Bernini has represented the triton to illustrate the triumphant passage fromOvid'sMetamorphoses book I, evoking godlike control over the waters and describing the draining away of theUniversal Deluge. The passage that Urban set Bernini to illustrate, was well known to all literate Roman contemporaries:
The following year, Bernini sculpted theFontana delle Api (Fountain of the Bees), a watering trough where the Via Veneto enters the Piazza Barberini.[2] Both fountains were constructed around the time of theFirst War of Castro. Matthew K. Averett sees a political statement in their construction: as Urban restoring peace after an unfortunate but necessary conflict.[4]
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The Triton Fountain is one of those evoked inOttorino Respighi'sFontane di Roma. The legend applied toTrevi Fountain has been extended to this: that any visitor who throws a coin into the water (while facing away from the fountain) will have guaranteed their return to Rome.
The setting of the Piazza Barberini has changed significantly since the seventeenth century. Engravings of the time and photographs from the nineteenth century show much lower buildings around the piazza, which would have made the fountain much more dramatic. However, it is a tribute to the artistic judgement of Bernini that even now, with tall buildings around the traffic-ridden piazza, the Triton Fountain can still maintain a dramatic presence.
Media related toFontana del Tritone (Rome) at Wikimedia Commons| Preceded by Fountain of the Tritons | Landmarks of Rome Fontana del Tritone, Rome | Succeeded by Victor Emmanuel II Monument |
