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Fontane di Piazza S. Pietro

Typology: Fountains

Address

Address: Piazza San Pietro
Zone: Città del Vaticano (Roma ovest)

Description

The “almost” twin fountains placed symmetrically at the centre of the two hemicycles of the colonnade by Bernini and in a straight line with the Vatican Obelisk in Piazza San Pietro, are due to the talent of the two major protagonists of the architectural history of this renowned square: Carlo Maderno, author of the facade of the basilica and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, highest representative of the Roman baroque, who was also responsible for the ingenious arrangement of the square. The fountain on the right (facing the basilica) is by Maderno, who built it in 1614 partly reusing elements from an end of the fifteenth century fountain. Maderno’s brilliant idea was to turn the upper basin upside down, breaking the falling water into thousands of iridescent sprinkles, which still is the distinctive feature of the fountain. Bernini built the fountain on the left (1677) following the design of the previous fountain faithfully, the only difference being in the decoration of the stem, but leaving however his unmistakable touch with the wriggling dauphins that decorate the octagonal base.
Last checked: 2021-04-19 14:21