The Piazza Barberini is located in the center of the city of Rome in Italy situated on Quirinal Hill. The piazza was created in the 16th century, but many of the buildings have been rebuilt since then. The square was named for the Palazzo Barberini, the baroque style palace on the south side of the piazza, one of the homes for the Barberini noble family. This was the family of Pope Urban, and this palazzo now houses the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica. The focal point of the piazza is the Fontana del Triton, the Triton Fountain, which was created by Bernini. There is also another Bernini fountain in the piazza near the Via Vittorio Veneto, but was not constructed nearly as well. The Piazza Barberini, interestingly, had unknown human corpses hanging in the square up until the 18th century to be publicly identified.
The Triton Fountain, sculpted by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, was created for the piazza in 1642-1643. It was commissioned by Pope Urban VIII to be built near the entrance of the Palazzo Barberini, which Bernini also helped to design and construct. The fountain was constructed from Travertine, and was one of the first of Bernini’s free standing urban fountains.
The focal point of the fountain was the larger than life-size Triton rising from the center of the fountain. A triton is a minor sea god coming for Greco-roman legend. The merman kneels over four dolphin tailfins. He kneels with his head thrown back holding a conch shell to his lips. From this conch shell a jet of water spurts up, rising into the sky, although not as high as it once did. The stunning base is made of the four dolphins that hold up the merman, and entwine the papal tiara with crossed keys and the heraldic bees of the Barberini bees in their scales.
This baroque fountain was commissioned for a celebration for the newly renovated Acqua Felice which would provide the fountain with water. This was the last fountain commissioned to Bernini for Urban, who passed away in 1644. This style of fountain, previously only found in villa gardens, was brought to the urban setting as a result of Urban and Bernini’s sculptural design. The previous public fountain was of modest basins used only for the reception of water.
Bernini’s inspiration for the Triton fountain came from a passage in Ovid’s Metamorphosis book I, which discusses evoking godlike control over the water, and was the passage which Urban wanted Bernini to illustrate in his fountain creation. The passage is as follows:
Already Triton, at his call, appears
Above the waves; a Tyrian robe he wears;
And in his hand a crooked trumpet bears.
The sovereign bids him peaceful sounds inspire,
And give the waves the signal to retire.
His writhen shell he takes; whose narrow vent
Grows by degrees into a large extent,
Then gives it breath; the blast with doubling sound,
Runs the wide circuit of the world around:
The sun first heard it, in his early east,
And met the rattling ecchos in the west.
The waters, list'ning to the trumpet's roar,
Obey the summons, and forsake the shore.
—free translation by Sir Samuel Garth, John Dryden, et al..
The Piazza Barberini has changed many times since the 17th century. During the 19th century, the buildings were design much lower around the piazza, which was sure to make the fountain stand out even more so, creating a dramatic appeal. Today, the buildings are much taller, and the square is a busy traffic site, but the Fountain continues to maintain a dramatic and exciting public appeal.