The Trevi Fountain and Bernini’s first design (1640)
Like so many of his predecessors, Urban VIII – who was responsible for a certain number of fountains, notably the two by Pietro and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, i.e. the Barcaccia Fountain and the Barberini Triton Fountain (1627-29 and 1643) – also tried to resolve the problem of the Trevi Fountain and it seemed that this time it might work. “[To the] Administrators of our Council of Fountains in Rome and Prior to the District Wardens”, reads Urban’s Brief dated 15 May 1640, “Having for the convenience of our City of Rome ordered that the Aqua Vergine that was being lost in the conduits of the Trevi Founain be restored at great expense, and in the desire that the façade and statues of the display fountain be renovated with much greater decorative statuary for the ornamentation of the city with a new fountain design made to such purpose, We grant you wide-ranging power over the expenditure on the said display fountain up to the sum of six thousand scudi… To reduce the cost of the work, We order you to arrange that for the said construction of the fountain the necessary travertine and marble should be taken from Capo di Bove and other materials from Rome…”. Therefore, obviously at the suggestion of the architect in charge of building the fountain, i.e. Gian Lorenzo – who was second to none when it came to destroying antiquities – the Pope ordered that materials should be obtained by demolishing the Tomb of Cecilia Metella, on the Appian Way.
On the subject of that colossal Roman monument, it might be as well to remember that as early as 1589, the owners of the farmland on which it was situated made a special request to Cardinal Montalto (the nephew of Sixtus V) that it “would be very convenient [to them] to be able to strip it”, stating that “no one opposed it on the grounds that it was an antiquity and that it shouldn’t be done, because it was outside of Rome and not in a public place”. They ended their petition by assuring the cardinal of “continual prayers to the Almighty for your preservation and that He may grant your noble Lordship a long and most happy life”. Although he was inclined to permit the destruction of that “old junk”, the cardinal, who was very young, made the mistake of referring the decision to the City Council, which was dead set against it; so, the owners of the farm were in some senses fully justified if they gave up their fervent prayers for his “long life”, and in fact the cardinal died when he was only 53.
Moving forward again to Urban VIII, it appeared that the attempt had finally succeeded, as on 1 August 1640, two and a half months after the Pope issued his order, a mason was paid on Bernini’s specific instructions because “he had to start the work [of demolition] and finish it as soon as possible”.
Evidently, however, the Capitol again vehemently opposed such an act of barbarism, as a diarist relates: “Bernini, who is the Pope’s favourite sculptor because of his ability, considered making an extravagant façade for the Aqua Vergine known as the Trievi [sic]; he obtained a Brief to demolish that beautiful structure and set about it, but on seeing this, the Roman People [= the authorities] prevented it and work ceased in order to avoid stirring up trouble”. Next Bernini's First Trevi DesignPage...
