Four rivers fountain
The Four Rivers Fountain ( Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi in Italian ) was commissioned by Pope Innocent X and built by Gian Lorenzo Bernini between 1648 and 1651 in the center of Piazza Navona in Rome . It is considered a masterpiece of high baroque sculpture.
Four male figures each symbolize the rivers Danube , Ganges , Nile and Río de la Plata , which represented one of the four continents known at the time . The exact assignment can be seen on the animals and plants. The fountain not only represents the world known at the time, but also the Pope's claim to rule over the earth. In the middle of the mighty obelisks that from Isis - Temple of Domitian comes ( Iseum Campense ), a rising dove , the emblem of the Pamphili . A homage to Domitian is engraved on the obelisk. This is one of the last hieroglyphic inscriptions .
From 2007 to 2008 the fountain underwent extensive restoration.
Legends
A legend often told by tourist guides is that of the two arguing builders. The church next to the fountain, Sant'Agnese in Agone of the former Bernini pupil and later rival Francesco Borromini , provoked Bernini to mockery: He therefore covered the head of the Nile god and gave the embodiment of the Rio de la Plata a defensive hand. Borromini is said to have placed the statue of St. Agnes of Rome on the right bell tower to prove how solid his building is, and let her look contemptuously past the fountain. A look at the dates, however, refutes this interpretation: the fountain was already finished when the order for the church was awarded, initially to Girolamo Rainaldi , Borromini only came into play in 1653. The statue, on the other hand, is missing from old engravings and was apparently only attached long after Borromini's death. It is more likely that the veiled head of the Nile symbolizes its then unknown source.
See also
Individual evidence
Web links
Coordinates: 41 ° 53 ′ 56.2 " N , 12 ° 28 ′ 23.1" E