Bernini

Born in 1589, Bernini was a sculptor and architect in Rome.  He was a sculptor around the same level of talent that of Michelangelo Buonarroti.  Bernini sculpted many things throughout his life, and many of these sculptures were fountains.  One fountain in particular that he did is one that we saw on our Rome excursion.  This fountain is his Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, or the Fountain of the Four Rivers.  This fountain is located in Piazza Navona, in the center of the Piazza.  This fountain is that of a travertine grotto that needs to support an Egyptian obelisk.  The water flows from the grotto to the pool where there are four statues that symbolize four rivers from different continents.  These rivers include the Nile, Ganges, Plata, and the Danube River.  These statues are Baroque, in a reclined position, and their bodies twist in the typical style that baroque statues do.  I read in Gardner’s Art through the Ages that the Nile covers his face, to symbolize that they did not know the source of the river at the time, and the river Plata has coins signifying the fortune of the New World.  The statue symbolizing the Ganges is holding an ore, and the Danube is reaching up to the coat of arms of the Pope.  This fountain represents many things, of the continents of the world, and what comes of them.  It is beautiful, and very recognizably Baroque.  

Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers

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