Posted by Shazarch on 07 May 2022

Fontana del Moro

1575-1653, Piazza Navona, Rome

Unselected

Fontana del Moro, one of the three monumental fountains gracing Piazza Navona in Rome, stands as an emblematic work combining the talents of two prominent architects of the Italian Renaissance and Baroque periods. The fountain was initially conceived by Giacomo della Porta in 1575-76, featuring a polylobed basin. It was later embellished following a project by the illustrious Gian Lorenzo Bernini between 1574-1653, under the patronage of Olimpia Maidalchini. The original design comprised a multilinear marble basin set upon two steps, soon enclosed by a railing. It was adorned with four tritons originally crafted for the fountain in Piazza del Popolo, complemented by a mask flanked by two dolphins. Bernini's intervention in 1651, during the construction of the Fountain of the Four Rivers at the plaza's center, brought about the removal of the steps and railing, and the creation of a larger, similarly shaped outer basin. The enhancement was initially exclusive to the Fontana del Moro, given the recent construction of Palazzo Pamphilj, owned by Pope Innocent X's family, on the southern side of the square. Bernini's ornamental addition of a large shell with three dolphins was replaced the following year at the pope's behest. The final design that won the pope's favor depicted a robust marine-human figure, rising from a large shell, grappling a dolphin with its tail and legs. The water gushes from the fish's mouth, a logical yet dramatic interpretation of the water's source, characteristic of Bernini's fountain designs. The figure's features faintly resemble those of a person of African descent, leading to its initial moniker 'dell'Etiope' and subsequently 'del Moro,' which was then applied to the entire fountain. In 1874, during the definitive completion of the plaza's northern fountain, all sculptures from Fontana del Moro were removed and replaced by Luigi Amici's copies. The original sculptures have since been restored and repurposed in other fountains, with the tritons now residing in the Villa Borghese's pond fountain.