The fountain in the Piazza Colonna is a fountain in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, designed by the architect Giacomo Della Porta and constructed by the

Fiesole Fiesole () is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a scenic height above Florence, 5 km (3 miles) northeast of that city. It has structures dating to Etruscan and Roman times. Sin ...

sculptor Rocco Rossi between 1575 and 1577. The fountain was one of a group of sixteen fountains built by Della Porta following the reconstruction of the

Acqua Vergine Acqua Vergine is one of several Roman aqueducts that deliver pure drinking water to Rome. Its name derives from its predecessor Aqua Virgo, which was constructed by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa in 19 BC. Its terminal castellum is located at the Baths ...

aqueduct, a project begun by

Pope Pius IV Pope Pius IV ( it, Pio IV; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered ...

in 1561 and finished by

Pope Pius V Pope Pius V ( it, Pio V; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri, O.P.), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1566 to his death in May 1572. He is v ...

in 1570. The fountain itself was built under Pope Gregory XIII, best known for creating the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

. Like the other Roman fountains of its time, it was built to provide clean drinking water to the Roman residents, who before then had to drink the polluted water of the

Tiber River The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Riv ...

. Also like the other fountains of its time, it operated purely by gravity; the source of the water was higher than the fountain itself, causing the water to spout into the air. The water for the fountain first arrived at the old Trevi Fountain, then went to two reservoirs at the foot of the butte of San Sebastiancello, then through a series of the channels to the corner of via Condotti and the via del Corso, to

Piazza Venezia Piazza Venezia () is a central hub of Rome, Italy, in which several thoroughfares intersect, including the Via dei Fori Imperiali and the Via del Corso. It takes its name from the Palazzo Venezia, built by the Venetian Cardinal, Pietro Barbo (la ...

, to the foot of the column of

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...

. The source of the water for the fountain of Piazza Colonna was only 67 feet above sea level; like the Trevi Fountain, the

Fontana della Barcaccia The Fontana della Barcaccia (; "Fountain of the Boat") is a Baroque-style fountain found at the foot of the Spanish Steps in Rome's Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Square). Pope Urban VIII commissioned Pietro Bernini in 1623 to build the fountain as p ...

, and the fountains of Piazza Navona, all connected to the Acqua Vergine, the fountain of Piazza Colonna was unable to jet water high into the air. The original project of Della Porta was to place an antique Roman statue of a sea god, called Marforio, in the fountain, against a background of a rocky grotto, behind which the column of Marcus Aurelius would be seen. The final fountain was simpler: the octagonal basin of the fountain was made of pink marble from the island of

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, the same marble that Della Porta used for frame of the doorway of St. Peter's Basilica. Della Porta also designed the sixteen carved lion heads around the basin. A circular stone vasque was placed on a pedestal in the center, and water poured from this vasque into the basin.Tazartes, pg. 58 The fountain was slightly restored by

Bernini Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (, , ; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 159828 November 1680) was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor of his ...

during the pontificate of

Pope Alexander VII Pope Alexander VII ( it, Alessandro VII; 13 February 159922 May 1667), born Fabio Chigi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 April 1655 to his death in May 1667. He began his career as a vice- papal legate, an ...

. In 1702 Pope Clement XI placed his own coat of arms, a star with eight points, on top of the original vasque in the center, but this was removed after his death. In 1830 the architect Alessandro Stocchi removed the original central vasque and replaced it with the current vasque, made of white marble. He also added two groups of sculptures of dolphins, their tails wrapped around seashells, spouting water from their mouths, at either end of the basin.

References

Thais:Roma-Fountains

Sources

*Maurizia Tazartes, ''Fontaines de Rome'', translated from Italian into French by Christine PIot. Citadelles and Mazenot, Paris, 2004. *Marilyn Symmes, ''Fountains- Splash and Spectacle. Water and Design from the Renaissance to the Present''. Thames and Hudson and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution. 1998. *D'Onofrio, Cesare, ''Le Fontane di Roma, con documenti e disegni inediti,'' 2nd edition, Rome, 1962

External links

* {{Authority control Piazza Colonna Rome R. III Colonna Dolphins in art Seashells in art it:Piazza Colonna#La_fontana

See also

References

Sources

External links