Fontana delle Api

Fontana delle Api by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Fontana delle Api (Fountain of the Bees) is a fountain located in the Piazza Barberini in Rome where the Via Veneto enters the piazza. It was sculpted by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and completed in April 1644.

Fontana delle Api consists of a marble bi-valve shell with three bees of the same material resting on it. The fountain was intended to be a watering trough for horses. An inscription on the shell reads, "Urban VIII Pont. Max., having built a fountain for the public ornamentation of the City, also built this little fountain to be of service to private citizens. In the year 1644, XXI of his pontificate." The "public ornamentation" referred to in the inscription is the Fontana del Tritone (Triton Fountain), which Bernini had completed the year before.

References

Piazza Barberini

Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Sculpture

1610s	The Goat Amalthea with the Infant Jupiter and a Faun Bust of Giovanni Battista Santoni A Faun Teased by Children Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence Saint Sebastian Bust of Pope Paul V Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius Bust of Giovanni Vigevano Damned Soul Blessed Soul

1620s	Bust of Carlo Antonio del Pozzo Neptune and Triton The Rape of Proserpina Apollo and Daphne Bust of Pope Gregory XV St. Peter's Baldachin Charity with Four Children David Bust of Alessandro Peretti di Montalto Saint Bibiana Busts of Pope Urban VIII Bust of Monsignor Pedro de Foix Montoya Bust of Cardinal Roberto Bellarmine Bust of Cardinal Giovanni Dolfin Bust of Cardinal Escoubleau de Sourdis Bust of Antonio Cepparelli Bust of Cardinal Melchior Klesl Two Angels in Sant'Agostino Bust of Francesco Barberini Bust of Antonio Barberini Bust of Camilla Barbadoni Busts of Cardinals Agostino and Pietro Valier Memorial to Carlo Barberini Tomb of Pope Urban VIII Saint Longinus

1630s	Statue of Carlo Barberini Two Busts of Cardinal Scipione Borghese Tomb of Countess Matilda of Tuscany Pasce Oves Meas Bust of Costanza Bonarelli Busts of Paolo Giordano and Isabella Orsini Statue of Pope Urban VIII Bust of King Charles I Bust of Thomas Baker Medusa

1640s	Bust of Cardinal Richilieu Memorial to Alessandro Valtrini Memorial to Ippolito Merenda Memorial to Maria Raggi Truth Unveiled by Time Bust of Pope Leo X Ecstasy of Saint Teresa Raimondi Chapel Noli Me Tangere

1650s	Busts of Pope Innocent X Bust of Francesco I d'Este The Vision of Constantine Chair of Saint Peter Saints Jerome and Mary Magdalen

1660s	Statue of Alexander VII Busts of Alexander VII Elephant and Obelisk Angel with the Crown of Thorns Angel with the Superscription Bust of Gabriele Fonseca Bust of Louis XIV Equestrian Statue of King Louis XIV

1670s	Blessed Ludovica Albertoni Tomb of Pope Alexander VII Statue of Pope Clement X

Architecture and
fountains

Paintings

Self-Portrait as a Young Man
Portrait of Pope Urban VIII
Saint Andrew and Saint Thomas
Self-Portrait as a Mature Man
Portrait of a Boy
Christ Mocked

List of works by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Coordinates: 41°54′15.5″N 12°29′19.4″E / 41.904306°N 12.488722°E / 41.904306; 12.488722

Fontana delle Api

See also

References