The design of the Fountains of Trevi
I think we can be reasonably certain about the date of the works and of Maggi’s plan . An Announcement from Rome on 1 February 1614 says: “Only one house is now to be destroyed to complete the opening up of the road designed from the Corso to Capo le Case…”: precisely the straight line mentioned above. Moreover, a notarised deed – to which I shall return shortly – dated November 1617, refers to the “conduit of the Aqua Vergine from the Trevi fountain… recently constructed” and unquestionably means the reconstruction or, rather, the adaptation of the old fountain, since that is all that was done. Therefore, we can conclude that Maggi’s illustration of the fountain and the failure to build the fountain according to that design date to around 1615. If you want to know whose design the Fountain of Trevi was, I think I can help you establish the artist. Firstly, you should note that Paul V was especially fond of this sort of fountain design, which is almost identical to the Moses fountain, right down to the statuary; in fact, in 1612, he had had a kind of “larger model of the fountain” constructed on the Janiculum and, in 1614, another “smaller model of the fountain” – built by Vasanzio – at the end of Via Giulia, both in addition to the “rustic” showpiece of the Aqua Paola in the Vatican (1612 – the famous “Eagle” fountain). So, it would appear fairly logical, or at least not particularly odd, that for another of his display fountains Paul V should opt for the style he usually chose for such water features.
Let me now go back to the notarised deed. This is one of the customary numerous and very boring documents recording the most minute details of work undertaken to supply water to fountains or new consumers, or to carry out checks and modifications on their premises. In this case it is an alteration and I will translate the text word for word: “20 November 1617. The water pipes that were in the main conduit proper of the Aqua Vergine at the Trevi fountain in the quantity given below were moved from the place where they were before, that is to say from the terminal head of the conduit of the said water fountain beneath the house in which Giorgio Tintore resides; this head was demolished to enlarge and straighten the road that starts from Piazza Sciarra and goes to the church of San Nicola in Carcere [sic, but this should be San Nicola at Capo le Case]. The water pipes in question were placed, with the same capacity, in the terminal head of the said recently constructed conduit and, as is the commonly used term, “near to the first mouth of the said water” which is toward the Palace on the Quirinale Hill. This was done by order of the Hon. Lelio Biscia minister of the Rev. Papal Council and with the permission of the Architect Mr. Giovanni Vanzanten [= Vasanzio] appointed by His Lordship Paul V to the superintendency of the waters…”.
Now, I believe that to find Vasanzio – whom we have already met with as the “Architect for the Fountains” – directing the transfer of water pipes connected to the Trevi fountain at precisely that stage of the work gives us the right to think it highly likely that the Moses-style façade (with which the Flemish fountain architect was very familiar), planned but never constructed for the Trevi fountain around 1615, was indeed his work.
