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A Fountain that Brought Forth Mixed Emotions
It is only too obvious that this work was inspired by Bernini: you can see his influence in the rocks and in the two tritons. Nonetheless, Bizzaccheri's true genius and his purely personal concept of the fountain lies in his attempt to create a bond between the groups of sculpture (which are a little weak) and the basin in order to achieve a whole that is complete and in harmony with the water. The effort succeeded extraordinarily well, thanks to his design for the simple, yet completely novel, 8-pointed basin with its inward curving sides, all set within a circle. Indeed, with the group emerging from the middle, it looks almost like a flower that is beginning to open. The feature that fuses the whole into a single artistic entity is decidedly the contour of the basin itself.
Leaving aside the artistic considerations, I would like to finish my brief account of this fountain -- which I would not hesitate to class amongst the most beautiful in Rome -- and remind you that, when it was built, it aroused a great deal of controversy concerning Clement XI. The reason, as we are informed by Crescimbeni, who was on the Pope's side, was that "to many people, the new construction seemed excessive, or at least too elegant" and "there are some who say that this fountain is too magnificent for the square where it stands and for the poor people who will benefit from it." Many believed a simple drinking trough for animals would have been enough of a creation.
On the other hand, the Chapter of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin was very pleased, both with the restorations to the church and the beautiful fountain. The church's Chapter decided to mark their eternal gratitude with a plaque.
"Nor was the general feeling of the whole parish any less [pleased], but the inhabitants were so poor that they had few means of showing it; nevertheless, they also joined in the applause and cries of acclamation that, on the fountain being supplied with water, rang out loudly all day. And on that day, His Holiness, Pope Clement XI, deigned to add considerably to the joy, by arranging for gifts of food and money to be handed out to all who had worked on building the fountain, who amounted in number to over sixty, all of whom were gathered together in the square for the occasion." Indeed this fountain of Rome brought joy to the poor even for a day.
