Bees fountain

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The Bees Fountain ( Italian Fontana delle Api ) is a historical fountain in Rome at the beginning of Via Veneto in Rione Ludovisi .

It was originally made in 1644 by the Italian sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini on behalf of Pope Urban VIII . on the Piazza Barberini , corner of Via Sistina . It was supposed to complement the Triton Fountain , also built by Bernini a year earlier, in the middle of the square , and above all to serve as a horse trough. The fountain represents an open shell, whereby the standing shell was integrated into a house wall and the lying shell served as a fountain basin. The three bees allude to the coat of arms of the Pope's family, the Barberini , which shows three bees.

In 1865 the fountain was removed. When it was decided in 1915 to re-erect the fountain on the corner of Via Veneto, it was only partially preserved. So today only the middle part with the bees is an original by Bernini. The mussel shells are only an approximate interpretation of the original condition. The inscription is based on an imprecise copy of the original inscription.

On July 20, 2004 the fountain was badly damaged by unknown vandals, a marble beehead was destroyed (left in the picture). After the successful restoration of the beehive, it was again separated by vandals on July 10, 2005 and stolen.

Bees fountain by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The inscription reads:

VRBANVS VIII PONTIFEX MAXIMVS
FONTI AD PVBLICVM VRBIS ORNAMENTVM
EXSTRVCTO
SINGVLORVM VSIBVS SEORSIM COMMODITATE HAC
CONSVLVIT
ANNO MDCXLIV PONT XXI


After the fountain was built as a public ornament of the city
, Pope Urban VIII took care of
the needs of the individual with this convenience in 1644, his pontificate 21.

 
Bees fountain

Another bee fountain from the time of Urban VIII is located next to the Church of Sant'Anna dei Palafrenieri in the Vatican .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Cesare d'Onofrio: Il Facchino di via Lata ed altre fontane minori con acqua di Trevi. Romana Società Editrice 1991, p. 61.
  2. ↑ means the Triton Fountain , also built by Bernini in 1642–1643.
  3. ↑ Klaus Bartels : Rome's speaking stones. Cape. 8.2, Zabern, Mainz 2004, 4th edition, ISBN 3-8053-2690-4 .
  4. ↑ On the left edge of a corner of the church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini recognizable.

Coordinates: 41 ° 54 ′ 16 ″  N , 12 ° 29 ′ 19 ″  E