Triton Fountain

It’s no coincidence that Gian Lorenzo Bernini is considered one of the greatest sculptors of all times, and the Triton fountain is one of his masterpieces.

It is located in Piazza Barberini, not far from the centre and served by a subway station. In the middle of a water basin are standing four dolphins with their tail pointing upwards supporting a two-valve shell. Inside this marine formation stands the focus of the composition, the Triton.

The deity is blowing inside a coiled shell that he is firmly holding with his hands. By doing so he is giving life to the water spray at the top of the fountain, fed by the Acqua Felice aqueduct. The scene is a representation of a passage of the Metamorphoses written by Ovid, but here it has a metaphorical meaning related to Pope Urban VIII, whose family coat of arms, the Barberini bees, are also sculpted in the fountain.

At the time it was built, this area was considered to be a countryside and was dedicated to the vineyards; So the realisation of the square and its furniture completely changed the destiny of this area.

An interesting fact is that it is the first fountain not to have a solid support, with a hole created in between the four dolphins, technique that would be replicated later in the Fountain of the Four Rivers.