Continued Barberini Triton
What Inspired Bernini's Triton?
Is a Triton blowing water into the air from a huge conch shell really Gian Lorenzo's own original idea? We have seen how the little fountain known as the "Vatican Bees" was inspired by the famous and colossal "Eagle" that Paul V had built in 1611-12 in the "Belvedere Wood" as the display fountain of the Aqua Paola in the Vatican. To judge from various prints, the Barberini Triton fountain, which is still in full working order and in the same state as it was originally, was not the work of Maderno or Vasanzio, but of Giovanni Antonio de Pomis, the closest associate of Flaminio Ponzio with whom Bernini was constructing the gardens and, therefore, the rustic fountains in Villa Borghese at that very same time. As the usual "measures and estimates" and official payment orders show, de Pomis was constantly assisted in these operations by Bernardino Valperga who, like his colleague, was a surveyor to the Papal Council and an architect.
The decorative sculptures on the Barberini Triton fountain consist of a gigantic eagle dominating the summit of the composition, seemingly having just emerged from the cavern beneath. On the far sides, two colossal dragons face each other from their caves. At the mouths of two more caves, there are two groups: on the right a "dolphin with boy," and on the left, a "dolphin with girl." Leaving aside the second, which consists of a nymph seated on a large dolphin that is spurting out water, we need to take a closer look at the first group, which features a Triton astride a large dolphin.
This Triton bears a striking resemblance to the Barberini Triton: identical position, identical "movement" of arms and hands, which are holding an almost identical round shell which the Triton uses to blow water into the air. Given that Stefano Maderno carved the fine Triton in the Vatican in 1611, and that the Barberini Triton was made in 1643, it has to be said that Bernini took the inspiration for his marvelous sculpture from Maderno. Indeed, it would hardly be going too far to say it was plagiarism.
In fact, if Bernini got the idea for his Triton "sounding the conch" from Maderno, where did he find the inspiration for the whole arrangement of four dolphins with their tails in the air supporting the shell-shaped basin on which the Triton is poised? In yet another fountain in the Vatican Gardens (lost years ago) there was a similar group, carved in 1609-10 by another prominent artist, Nicolas Cordier, known as "Il Franciosino."
Here is the text of the document that has luckily left us a brief description of that fountain: "17 April 1610. To Nicolo Cordieri sculptor, 100 scudi in coin for a cherub with a round shell in his hand for throwing water into the air, placed above the tails of four small sea dragons five hands high (= 1.15m) and three hands wide, in the fountain at the entrance to the Belvedere garden as ornament to the second basin." If we look at Bernini's fountain as we read this document it is impossible not to reach the conclusion that he modeled his composition on that of Franciosino.
Despite such obvious sources of inspiration, Gian Lorenzo's creation remains an achievement worthy of his forceful and distinctive personality: the extremely elegant fluidity of the basin which, here too, is quite shallow, in keeping with his style; the four scaly dolphins skimming the water and frowning comically as they support, along with the crest of Urban VIII, the enormous open shell whose undulating edges make it appear even heavier; but most of all the Triton, all bare and fleshy, whose ramrod straight torso creates an aura of deep silence, which he himself seems about to break with the sound of the massive conch he holds in both his incomparably finely carved hands. This whole composition is accomplished with great power and scrupulous sensitivity. Never for a single moment has the artist let his hand be directed by the desire for dramatic effect or facile impact. All is measured, poetic and goes far beyond the poor imitation that is all a mere copy could achieve.
Finally, to end my modest account of this great fountain, I would like to make a suggestion. Piazza Barberini has now become totally unsuitable for the wonderful yet anything but well kept fountain -- Rome seems only to care for the bronze "Naiads" -- and its only function is as a traffic roundabout. So, I propose that the Triton and the fountain in Palazzo Barberini just down the road should change places. In fact, while the latter would not lose much by the move, the Triton would at last return to a more tranquil, more refined environment and one much more comfortable for the spectator; the environment for which Bernini created it. I still seem to hear echoing in the following lovely words of an 18th century author: "The Triton is in the act of sounding the conch shell, which throws water up so high that when the wind is blowing it splashes onto the houses in Strada Felice."
