Trevi Fountain

Fontana di Trevi

Nicola Salvi (Italian architect, 1697-1751)

Rome, Lazio, Italy

54.384042

Italy

1732-1762 (creation)

18th century

front elevation, elevations

Its construction was extremely protracted, but as early as 1735 the architectural framework was complete, and by Salvi's death the ornamental rock formations and full-scale models of most of the sculpture were in place. The fountain is the most monumental water display in Rome and represents the culmination of a tradition of combining water and sculpture within an elaborate architectural setting. Salvi treated an existing façade of the Palazzo Poli as a nine-bay unit with the central three bays articulated with attached Corinthian columns suggesting an antique triumphal arch. The central bay is treated as a giant niche, which frames Maini's free-standing figure of Oceanus, from which the sculptural scheme and the waters of the fountain seem to flow into a large rock basin. An attic storey above the central niche is surmounted by a coat of arms of Clement XII and incorporates statues representing the Four Seasons, part of a complex iconographic scheme emphasizing the important role of water in nature.

line drawings (drawings)

Architectural Documentation

fountains

water distribution structures

hydraulic structures

elevations

Baroque

Italian

allegorical

architectural exteriors

mythology (Classical)

Architecture, Baroque

Fountains

Oceanus (Greek deity)

capital: Corinthian

pilaster: compound

Gromort, Georges. Choix d’elements empruntes a l’architecture classique et donnant des exemples connus de l’ap. Paris: A. Vincent, 1920, 44.

Public Domain

Salvi, Nicola