Bernini's Fountain of the Triton, Piazza Barberini, Rome

Bernini's Fountain of the Triton, Piazza Barberini, Rome
Bernini's Fountain of the Triton, Piazza Barberini, Rome
Bernini's Fountain of the Triton, Piazza Barberini, Rome
Private Collection, England / Photograph by John Hammond
title=Credit line
Artist
Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Title
Bernini's Fountain of the Triton, Piazza Barberini, Rome
Date
c.1753-54 (undated)
Medium
Black chalk, heightened with white, on grey paper
Dimensions
Metric: 228 x 198 mm
Imperial: 9 x 7 3/4 in.
Collection
Private Collection, England
Accession Number
RF78
Wilson Online Reference
D231
Exhibited
Rome 1959 (674); Kenwood 1974 (24i)
Provenance
William Lock of Norbury; his sale, Sotheby's, London 3-7 May 1821; Marianne Ford; thence by descent
Subject
The Triton Fountain (Fontana del Tritone) by the leading Baroque sculptor, Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), was commissioned by Pope Urban VIII. It was executed in travertine in 1642-43. At its centre rises a larger than lifesize muscular Triton (a minor sea god of classical mythology), depicted as a merman kneeling on a shell borne by four dolphins' tailfins. The original purpose of the fountain was to provide water from the Acqua Felice aqueduct, which Pope Urban had restored.
Bibliography
Walpole Society 1998-I, p. 71, RF 78
Updated by Compiler
2017-09-13 00:00:00