Page 2 of the Piazza del Popolo
Before examining the fountains one by one, I can say with certainty that the architect of all the fountains planned by the Congregation and almost all those built after the Aqua Felice was brought to the city (15 or so in all) was one and the same person: Jacopo della Porta. His precise official position (and the salary that went with it) was "Architect of the Fountains of Rome", despite the fact that he was assisted (until 1581) by another quite modest and almost unknown fountain architect, Bartolomeo Gritti. The large number of documents expressly recording his fountain designs and water feature models make this obvious, as well as those in which it is Jacopo who does the water flow calculations, i.e. monitors the work and - a custom that has fallen into disuse - always reduces the remuneration requested by the skilled craftsmen and laborers. No, it is enough to take a quick overall glance at the architectural style of the fountains fed by Aqua Vergine or the fountains supplied with Aqua Felice to note that the concept is always the same and, to tell the truth, simple and monotonous: a large elongated water basin at the base, octagonal or irregular in shape, raised on on the fountain by two or three steps, and in only two cases decorated with masks and tritons (one in the outdoor fountain of Piazza Navona and one at the Pantheon), sometimes with a single column or baluster holding up a smaller water basin.
The Famous Tortise Fountain
The only fountains by della Porta that are completely different from all the rest are the famous Tortoise Fountain in Piazza Mattei and the Marforio on the Capitoline Hill. We may not agree with the judgement made by Milizia (a man who was never satisfied) when he said that "most of them were trivial". Nonetheless, in summing up della Porta's fountains, we should perhaps speak more of indifference than monotony, by which I mean that no matter to what extent the refinement and delicacy of his fountains affect the observer, they have no "live" quality, nothing to show that they have anything in common with the water that flows from them: they are nothing but water receptacles. The tritons and ugly yet somehow attractive masks acting as waterspouts are clever, playful additions that lend a touch of vivacity, but not of life, to the two fountains mentioned above. All in all, della Porta was unable to get away from the norms, and therefore the restrictions, of the 16th century public fountain, whose form would not properly be superseded until early in the following century, beginning with the "Barcaccia" - after, that is, a few more experiments in the old della Porta style. Then we must also consider the rather difficult conditions in which Master Jacopo had to work. In fact, when we remember that the "Congregation for the Fountains" (composed of cardinals who almost always succeeded in imposing their own ideas, even on artistic matters) met and compiled its list of 18 new fountains it is only too clear that these were not intended to be 18 masterpieces but 18 decent, practical and above all low-cost fountains. As a result, della Porta embarked on the work with an extensive program he was obliged to follow through in the shortest possible time and with neither the means nor the money to create masterpiece fountains. He therefore had to take his inspiration from the only two noteworthy examples of public fountain that existed in Rome at that time: one was in Piazza di S. Maria in Trastevere, the other in St. Peter's Square.
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