The Fontana della Barcaccia (; "Fountain of the Boat") is a Baroque-style fountain found at the foot of the

Spanish Steps The Spanish Steps ( it, Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti) in Rome, Italy, climb a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church, at the top. The monumental stairwa ...

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 ...

Piazza di Spagna Piazza di Spagna ("Spanish Square"), at the bottom of the Spanish Steps, is one of the most famous squares in Rome, Italy. It owes its name to the Palazzo di Spagna, the seat of the Embassy of Spain to the Holy See. There is also the famed Colum ...

(Spanish Square). Pope Urban VIII commissioned

Pietro Bernini Pietro Bernini (6 May 1562 – 29 August 1629) was an Italian sculptor. He was the father of one of the most famous artists of Baroque, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, as well as the sculptor-architect Luigi Bernini. Biography Bernini was born in Sesto F ...

in 1623 to build the fountain as part of a prior Papal project to erect a fountain in every major piazza in Rome. The fountain was completed between 1627 and 1629 by Pietro possibly along with the help of his son Gian Lorenzo Bernini, especially after his father's death on August 29, 1629.

Description

The sculptural fountain is made into the shape of a half-sunken ship with water overflowing its sides into a small basin. The source of the water comes from 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 Ba ...

, an aqueduct from 19 BCE. Bernini built this fountain to be slightly below street level due to the low water pressure from the aqueduct. Water flows from seven points of fountain: the center baluster; two inside the boat from sun-shaped human faces; and four outside the boat. According to legend, as the River

Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest List of rivers of Italy, 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 ...

flooded in 1598, water carried a small boat into the Piazza di Spagna. When the water receded, a boat was deposited in the center of the square, and it was this event that inspired Bernini's creation. The fountain is decorated with the papal coat of arms of the Barberini family as a reminder of Pope Urban VIII's ancestry.

Damage and restoration

On May 15, 2007 four drunken tourists damaged the monumental fountain with a large screwdriver inflicting a deep scratch, with the consequent detachment of a significant part of the papal coat of arms. The

carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...

rushed to the place were attacked by the four vandals, but still managed to get them under arrest and prevent further damage. Restoration on the fountain has been carried out several times, the last being in 2014, through a private donation of €209,960. A few weeks after the unveiling, the fountain was damaged on 19 February 2015 by a group of Dutch football

hooligans Hooliganism is disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying and vandalism, usually in connection with crowds at sporting events. Etymology There are several theories regarding the origin of the word ''hooliganism,'' which is a ...

, who were in Rome to support

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

-based club

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club (association football), football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names bef ...

in a

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

match against

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

. The group, allegedly under the influence of alcohol and drugs,Ansa.it
/ref> stepped into the fountain and threw bottles and rubbish in it before clashing with the police.

In popular culture

The English poet John Keats could hear the sound of the fountain's water flowing soothingly from his deathbed. He said it reminded him of lines from the 17th-century play ''

Philaster Philaster may refer to: * Philastrius (died 390s), bishop of Brescia in the fourth century * ''Philaster'' (play), play by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, published in 1620 * ''Philaster'' (genus), a genus of ciliates in the family Philasterid ...

, or Love Lies a-Bleeding'' (1611) and was the source for his

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

: "Here lies one whose name was writ in water."

Jess Walter Jess Walter (born July 20, 1965) is an American author of seven novels, two collections of short stories, and a non-fiction book. He is the recipient of the Edgar Allan Poe Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2006. Career Wal ...

uses the fountain as a plot device in ''

Beautiful Ruins ''Beautiful Ruins'' is a 2012 bestselling novel by Jess Walter. It is his sixth novel. The novel is a social satire critiquing Hollywood culture. Though not the explicit focus of the novel, receiving very little direct appearances in the novel, ...

''.

References

External links

Web gallery of Art

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fontana Della Barcaccia Barcaccia Baroque sculpture 1627 works Rome R. IV Campo Marzio Ships in art

Description

Damage and restoration

In popular culture

See also

References

External links