Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi Unveiling
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The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi was unveiled to the populace of Rome on 12th June 1651. According to a report from the time [1], an event was organised to draw people to the Piazza Navona. Beforehand, wooden scaffolding, overlaid with curtains, had hidden the fountain, though probably not the obelisk. People would obviously have had an idea of something being built, but the precise details were unknown. Once unveiled, the full majesty of the fountain would be apparent, and this celebrations was designed to advertise this. The festival was paid for by the Pamphili family, more specifically Innocent X, who had sponsored the erection of the fountain. The most conspicuous item on the Pamphili crest, an olive branch, were brandished by the performers who took part in the event.
The author of the report, Antonio Bernal, takes his readers through the hours leading up to the unveiling. The celebrations were announced by a woman, dressed as the allegorical character of Fame, being paraded around the streets of Rome on a carriage or float. She was sumptuously dressed, with wings attached to her back, and a long trumpet in her hand. Bernal notes that "she went gracefully through all the streets and all the districts that are found among the seven hills of Rome, often blowing the round bronze [the trumpet], and urging everyone to make their way to that famous Piazza." A second carriage followed her; this time another woman was dressed as the allegorical figure of Curiosity. According to the report, she continued exhorting the people to go towards the piazza. Bernal describes the clamour and noise of the people as they discussed the upcoming event.
The report is actually less detailed about the process of publicly unveiling the fountain. However, it does give ample descriptions of the responses of the spectators who had gathered in the Piazza. Once there, Bernal notes, the citizens of the city were overwhelmed by the massive fountain, with its huge life-like figures. The report mentions the "enraptured souls" of the population, the fountain, which "gushes out a wealth of silvery treasures" causing "no little wonder" in the onlookers. Bernal then continues to describe the fountain, making continual reference to the seeming naturalism of the figures and astonishing effect this had on those in the piazza.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Antonio Bernal, Copiosissimo Discorso della Fontana, e Guglia Eretta in Piazza Navona, per ordine della Santità di Nostro Signore Innocentio X dal Signor Cavalier Bernini ..., Rome, 1651
