The Trevi Fountain up to the competition in 1732
The fountain design, as reproduced, dates from almost 1700 exactly. Some of the features it displays are highly typical of Bernini’s style, so it is a very interesting drawing. With the four energetic-looking tritons, hovering over the fountain, beneath the vigorous Neptune and the huge rocky outcrops (which extend beyond the colonnade) and their torrents of water, the drawing could easily be a direct descendent of Bernini’s lost fountain design. The artist of this fountain drawing may be Carlo Fontana.
In the early years of the 18th century, Clement XI (Albani, 1700-21), the pope who loved antiques, made his own contribution to solving the problem. In 1704, a granite column originally erected in honor of Emperor Antoninus Pius was completely uncovered near the left side of Pope Innocent’s Curia at Montecitorio (now the Parliament building). Like so many of his predecessors, Clement XI decided he would like this column to be used as part of a fountain; thus becoming a cornerstone of the Trevi Fountain. Here are some notes on the subject by the diarist, Valesio: “Wednesday 13 August 1704. Today the site behind the Trevi fountain was measured, as His Beatitude is thinking of making a lavish façade for that Water that will include the great Antonine Column from Monte Citorio, and of making a spacious square in front of the fountain by drawing on the one behind it, in line with the church of Madonna dei Cruciferi”. Without going too deeply into the details of plans for the fountain that were never implemented, all I need say here that this design was still on the agenda until at least 1730.
On 5 July 1728, Valesio, who – as we shall see – was very well informed about this fountain, noted: “Monsignor Sardini, who comes from Lucca and is President for that Water went to persuade the Pope [Benedict XIII Orsini] to ornament the Trevi showpiece fountain and, when the Pope said he did not have the money, undertook to find it for him and the Pope gave him permission to do so; therefore His Most Noble Lordship, who fancies himself a poet, conveyed his thoughts to a certain sculptor from Naples, Paolo Benaglia, who had worked on stuccoes for the Pope. He is a man who takes risks, but has little or no knowledge of his art, and he has already made a model of the fountain that has been seen by many: the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary is seated at the highest point as His Beatitude wanted her there; below her to the left is the virgin “Trivia” whom the prelate’s mind has conceived as Pallas was conceived by Jove – with her right hand she points to the Holy Virgin, and with the left, to the water pouring from some rocks; on the right, there is the goddess Rome, armed and standing upright, and beside her, for no reason at all, a sow with some piglets; and in the group with the virgin “Trivia” there is a unicorn; this fine work will be crowned with an equally elegant inscription composed by the prelate himself… “Minervas aquas ministrat Trivia Virgo”; oh, and I forgot: so that the sow should not go hungry there are two oak trees, one on each side”. This design is unknown, but it is not improbable that the two ugly and previously unpublished designs can be attributed to Benaglia. Next Trevi Completion Page...
