Piazza del Popolo, Rome, Italy
Designed by the distinguished architect Giuseppe Valadier, the fountains that are situated in the Piazza del Popolo in Rome were part of a grand design that were aimed at making this particular piazza the gateway to the city itself.
The fountains designed by Valadier to complement his overall plans for the piazza are of particular artistic merit although the designs are very different. The first fountains we’ll examine are semi-circular in shape and consist of two basins – the top one of which is modeled on a shell design. The water play with these particular fountains is very appealing. Water is basically streamed through the supporting walls of the fountains to thread its way across the shells. The structure that is to be found around the obelisk in the square, on the other hand, is of far grander design in many ways. This fountain consists of lion sculptures – out of whose mouths water gushes into four large receptacles. The Egyptian theme here is due to the fact that the obelisk itself was brought back as war booty by Octavius after the defeat of Mark Antony at Actium.
Valadier really did succeed in making the Piazza an elegant whole composed of elegant elements. This is especially true of the fountains he created which are under-stated, innovative, classic, imposing yet graceful all at the same time. Yet, at the same time, they have a power and impact about them that makes then stand out from the norm. Behind the shell fountains, for example, you’ll see depictions of groups. On one fountain, there is Mars resplendent in armor and the river gods Tiber and Anio. The other group consists of Neptune and two Tritons. Valadier himself planned these images which act as a perfect back-drop to the stark simplicity of the fountains behind which they stand.
In fact Valadier had far greater plans for the fountains that could potentially have been built within the piazza. However modern day water supplies within the city could not approach those available in more ancient times via the aqueduct system so his really ambitious plans could not come to fruition. Valadier’s fountains are not, in fact, the first fountains to stand in this piazza. When plans started to re-design the area in earnest the city had to move an existing fountain designed by the old master Domenico Fontana to make way for Valadier’s designs. The Fontana fountain was relocated and now stands in gardens in the Janiculum.