Fountains of Bernini

My favorite fountain on our Bernini tour was the fountain in the Piazza Barberini. The name of the fountain is Fontana del Tritone or as we would call it the fountain of Triton. This fountain was made in 1642. On the top of the fountain is Triton, the minor god of the sea in ancient Roman and Greek legends. Triton shown as a merman sits on top of a giant oyster shell blowing into a conch shell where the water spills out. The water used to shoot out much higher than it does today but over time the shell has worn down making the arch of water smaller. Holding Triton up on the shells are four dolphins with their tails all twisting together. The rounded pool of water below is meant to represent the ocean. In between two of the dolphins is the crest of Pope Urban VII who commisioned this work, also found is the symbol of the Barberini family; the bees.The Pope wanted this fountain to be a reminder of the water brought to the people by the Acqua Felice aqueduct he commisioned. This was the last work commisioned by Pope Urban VII.

This fountain was made from travertine, a natural rock. His inspiration for this fountain came from passage of "Metamorphasis". This fountain was something that would have been in a garden but Bernini brought it into the public like no one had done before. I think my favorite part about this fountain are the dolphins. As soon as I heard "look at the dolphins on the bottom" I was confused, to me they look more like fish. I am not too sure why the dolphins look the way they do in this fountian but regarless they are still beautiful.