Page 2: A contest to select a designer
The Neptune Fountain Examination Committee included Luigi Amici, the sculptor who, at that very moment, had in his possession the marble for the masks and Tritons which, unfortunately, were to replace the originals in the other fountain. After putting the candidates through an impromptu 8-hour examination on a subject chosen to "verify the hand of the model-maker and avoid speculation", the Committee announced its decision for the Neptune Fountain on the 1st of October 1873. It decreed that, "Fountain Model number 1, having all the qualities necessary for a good and harmonious ornamental composition in the relative positions of the Nereid and the young Triton, we are unanimous in preferring this to the other fountain designs presented". The model in question – and goodness only knows where it ended up – belonged to Luigi Maioli from Ravenna.
Faced with such a clear, and unanimous, judgement, it was obvious that, along with his 5000-lira prize, the City Authorities intended to award Maioli the commission for the fountain. But – as always has and always will happen with competitions – the nine unsuccessful entrants protested loudly, saying that the Fountain Examination Committee had been biased, that pressure had been exerted, etc, etc. So the City Authorities appointed another committee of experts "by whose wise decision they would definitely abide" and, in a desire to show that they were absolutely impartial, on a matter concerning Rome – the embellishment of a square that could not have been more "Roman" – they invited to Rome: an architect from Naples (Enrico Albini), one sculptor and fountain designer from Tuscany (Giovanni Dupré) and one sculptor from Milan (Vincenzo Vela). Flattered, the Neapolitan accepted. The other two refused; indeed, Dupré ended his reply thus: "Moreover, it is very strange that Rome, the seat of the most competent judges in matters of art and fountains [St. Luke’s Academy] should seek the aid of outside artists".
Completely discouraged, the Authorities extended their invitation to two other artists to replace the rebels, again insisting – as is always the case in local tales – that the Neapolitan should be accompanied by a Tuscan (Pio Fedi) and Milanese (Antonio Tantardini). These three gentlemen arrived in Rome the day before the Fountain Committee was to meet in order (as they themselves made known) to prepare themselves conscientiously for their task. They took a trip around the city, paying special attention to Piazza Navona "so as to consider the layout, the surrounding buildings and Bernini’s beautiful fountain in the centre". And without further delay, the Committee "then analysed the artistic fashion of Bernini’s time and reached conclusions as to the main qualities that made up the style adopted by that most prolific genius". Nonetheless, these good experts felt moved to comment on his ingenuity in the same way as the inexpert Lady Olimpia: "It must be remarked that one could say of the Fountain of the Moor that the statue in the middle should rise higher than the one that is there at present" – which is in fact, as you will have noticed, much lower than the obelisk on the central fountain.
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