The ''Fountain of Neptune'' ( it, Fontana del Nettuno) 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 ...

, located at the north end of the

Piazza Navona Piazza Navona () is a public open space in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in the 1st century AD, and follows the form of the open space of the stadium. The ancient Romans went there to watch the '' agones' ...

Name

It was once called "Fontana dei Calderari" because it was located close to a small alley with blacksmith's workshops, makers of pots and pans and of other metal based businesses, all of them generating heat.

History

The restoration of the Roman Aqua Virgo aqueduct in 1570 was immediately followed by the start of work on a continuation water supply pipe towards the district of the old

Campo Marzio Campo Marzio is the 4th ''rione'' of Rome, identified by the initials R. IV. It belongs to the Municipio I and covers a smaller section of the area of the ancient ''Campus Martius''. The logo of this rione is a silver crescent on a blue backgrou ...

, which following the diminution of the city's size and importance was left as the most densely populated part of the city. Restoration of a piped water supply in turn permitted the construction of several public fountains. The basin of the Fontana del Nettuno, (without the sculptures), was designed in 1574 by

Giacomo Della Porta Giacomo della Porta (1532–1602) was an Italian architect and sculptor, who worked on many important buildings in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica. He was born at Porlezza, Lombardy and died in Rome. Biography Giacomo Della Porta was ...

, who was also responsible for the Moor Fountain at the other side of the square. It was sponsored by pope

Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...

. The lower part of the basin consists of white marble and the upper part of the local stone from

Pietrasanta Pietrasanta is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of northern Tuscany in Italy, in the province of Lucca. Pietrasanta is part of Versilia, on the last foothills of the Apuan Alps, about north of Pisa. The town is located off the coast, where the ...

. For the next 300 years, the fountain survived without statues. Nineteenth-century infrastructure developments reduced dependence on urban fountains for drinking and washing purposes but increased their visual and political importance, especially following the

creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing * Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it * Creationism, the belief tha ...

of the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

state with Rome as its capital after 1870. The fountain as it exists today was finally completed in 1878 by Antonio della Bitta, who added the imposing sculpture of ''Neptune fighting with an octopus'', and Gregorio Zappalà, who created the other sculptures, based on the mythological theme of the "

Nereids In Greek mythology, the Nereids or Nereides ( ; grc, Νηρηΐδες, Nērēḯdes; , also Νημερτές) are sea nymphs (female spirits of sea waters), the 50 daughters of the ' Old Man of the Sea' Nereus and the Oceanid Doris, sisters ...

with Cupids and walruses". This statuary was added following a competition in 1873, in order to balance that of the Moor Fountain on the south side of the piazza and of the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (''Fountain of the Four Rivers'') at its centre.

References

Martin Pulvers, "Roman Fountains, 2000 Fountains in Rome, a complete collection", L'Erma di Bretschneider, 2002

External links

* Neptune, Piazza Navona Rome R. VI Parione Sculptures of Neptune Horses in art Sculptures of Cupid {{Italy-struct-stub