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Immediately after the fountain originally built in Piazza del Popolo – the one ordered in April 1572 that was the first of the series of fountains constructed by della Porta – came a second contract, drawn up as usual by a notary, Ottavio Gracchi, for more new fountains. Dated 25 September 1574, this stipulated "the conditions for the work of the basins for the fountains to be made in Piazza d’Agoni", naming the stonemason as Ludovico Rossi, from Fiesole.
Particular as always when it comes to public fountains, the deed required the use of "portasanta [marble], if Master Ludovico can find any" for the basins of the fountains on both sides of the square. As if this were not enough, it also stated that "care must be taken that the stone is not fired or split". I won’t go into the details of the penalties to be imposed if these conditions weren’t satisfied, since Master Ludovico found the required portasanta and it was neither fired nor split. The stonemason also undertook to carve the two basins "as per the wooden model" made by the Architect of the Roman People (i.e. the City Architect), who, as we know, was our old friend della Porta, and to make each basin "approximately 48 hands long and approximately 30 hands wide", i.e. 10.8m x 6.75m, which in fact are the measurements we see today.
Finally, with the threat of "taking the job away" from him and having it done by someone else at his expense" the officers [of the "Congregation for the Fountains"] engaged Master Ludovico to deliver the two basins "within the whole month of June to come in the year 1575". In fact, when "the month of June" arrived, the finished work had yet "to come": the stonemason must still have been sweating profusely over the two basins because, in September 1576, he was still receiving part-payments for these and for the two sets of travertine steps below and in the same shape as the basins in question.
Nevertheless, another notarized deed dated 14 April 1576 drew up an agreement with the same Master Ludovico (though his surname, for some unknown reason, was given not as Rossi but as dell’Albano) for a very elegant balustrade, approximately 35cm high, in travertine. Again reflecting the beautiful flowing lines of the basin and steps and to enclose the whole construction, this in turn was to be surrounded by 12 small columns "to protect the said work from carts and carriages which might cause its ruin".
As for the ornamental sculptures for both fountains, which seem to have been designed as he went along, Master Jacopo’s life was made easier by the fact that the four Tritons ordered for the fountain in Piazza del Popolo had not been used. These statues (by the Florentine artists Simone Moschino and Taddeo Landini, the Fleming Egidio della Riviera de Malines and by Giacobbe Siila Longhi from Milan) had been tried out in their original destination but had proved unsuitable. So, in a change of plan, della Porta had the idea of using them for the fountains in Piazza Navona. However, the four statues were only enough for one of the fountains and the one chosen (again, we do not know why) was the one at the southern end of the square: The Fountain of the Moor.
Master Jacopo was very fond of these four Tritons, each with one leg resting on a shell, which he modeled in clay and for which he required (as noted in the contract,) "smooth, beautiful [marble] fit for making statues, with well made relief and worked on all sides". But, before you go off to Piazza Navona, maybe even with a printout of this web page in your hands, I must interrupt this chronological account with a warning. The "four Tritons" that are there now, blowing out their cheeks yet producing a bare trickle of water from their twin-horned trumpets, are impostors! They are nothing but brutish copies made in 1874 by the stonecutter Luigi Amici to replace the ancient originals.
It is difficult to find any clear reason for the substitution. If the magnificent 16th century Tritons of the fountain were removed from Piazza Navona because their condition had deteriorated and they were in need of shelter – the neglected walls of a museum – then more thought should certainly have been given to their new location. Where you can find them now, at the edges of a tiny square near the Lake Garden at Villa Borghese, they are even more at risk of being vandalized by Roman children! If, on the other hand, the four original statues of the fountain were still able to make a good impression (which in fact they do, despite the many – but faithful – restorations carried out by Alessandro d’Este in 1813 under the direction of Antonio Canova), then why not return them to their old home – their birthplace – and leave the children of Villa Borghese to play their no doubt healthy and innocent juvenile games and climb the necks, cling to the ears and, often enough, break off the heads of the copies?
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