Posted on 07/07/2006 4:43:57 PM PDT by NYer
ROME, July 6, 2006 (Zenit.org).- As Rome temperatures soar, and the sun reflects off the travertine in the Forum and St. Peter's Square, turning the city into a giant kiln, tourists start to view an old attraction with new eyes: the fountains of Rome.
While the Trevi and the Four Rivers fountains are always high on people's must-see list, it takes the scorching heat of Roman summer to see these works not only as photo opportunities, but also as examples of the generosity of Papal Rome.
The seventy-odd elegant sculpted fountains, as well as hundreds of simple water spigots, ensure that one never has to go far to find a source of refreshing water. Savvy tourists carry empty bottles to refill as they go along, saving themselves the exorbitant prices of water at drink stands. During these hot July days people gratefully rinse feet, face and hands, cooling down and getting a second wind for the rest of the day's sightseeing.
The constant flow of water through the city has been a source of pride for Rome since its earliest beginnings. Rome was famously founded on seven hills, lifting the first settlements above the level of the Tiber river. The hills are laced with underground springs, and the early population dug wells and cisterns to obtain fresh water, supplementing from the Tiber when necessary.
As the city grew, however, more water was needed and wealthy Roman families found the solution. In 312 B.C., Appius Claudius constructed Rome's first aqueduct, the Aqua Appia. The channel traveled eight miles, mostly underground, bringing over 70,000 cubic meters of water (18 million gallons!) a day.
Sextus Giulius Frontius, superintendent of Rome's water works in the first century A.D., wrote that the aqueduct was "the highest demonstration of the greatness of Rome." By the time of the Empire, the city was admired for its wealth of water that flowed through twelve aqueducts to about 1,300 fountains by the fourth century.
The fall of Rome and the numerous invasions of the fifth century saw the destruction of the aqueducts. The lack of water on the hills forced the Romans to move toward the river to be close to their sole source of water, the Tiber. For almost a thousand years, the Romans had to make do with river water, until the Renaissance era.
In the fifteenth century, the Eternal City rose like a phoenix from the ashes. Roads were built in place of muddy pathways; new bridges spanned the Tiber while monumental palaces and churches were constructed in the heart of the city. Pope Sixtus IV (1471-1484) took this urban renewal one step further, baptizing the reborn Rome by reconditioning the most famous of Rome's aqueducts, the Aqua Virgo.
The Aqua Virgo had been built under Augustus in 19 B.C. by his designated heir, Agrippa. The aqueduct originated 13 miles outside the city and brought the purest and freshest water to Rome. The water contained less calcium deposits than the other water in Rome and as a result was prized for its lightness. Sixtus IV returned this precious source of water to the city and the Aqua Virgo is the only one of the ancient aqueducts still in use today.
The successive popes created new aqueducts and brought more water into the city, gradually renewing the ancient splendor and generosity of Rome. They commissioned the finest architects and sculptors to create magnificent fountains for the waters, particularly for the "show" or the first entry of the water from the aqueduct into the city.
Pope Gregory XIII hired Giacomo della Porta to create ten new fountains during the Jubilee Year of 1575 for the pilgrims who would be thronging the streets. These fountains beautified the public piazzas of Rome, such as the square in front of the Pantheon or the column of Marcus Aurelius. As they were all made of marble they offered not only a stately and elegant appearance, but also the pleasant musical sound of water playing off stone.
Pope Sixtus V created the Aqua Felice aqueduct, which brought water coursing through the city. Attempting to repopulate the higher hills of Rome, the Esquiline and the Quirinal, he created the show at the top of the Quirinal, close to the gate called Porta Pia. Pilgrims entering through the Porta Pia would have to walk just a few short blocks before they would find refreshment at the Moses fountain, which was shaped like a triumphal arch of ancient Rome and showed Moses striking the rock and water springing forth.
But the golden age of fountain design was still to come. The seventeenth century in Rome saw the construction of the great dramatic fountains by Bernini and his disciples. These fountains, like those of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona, the Triton fountain in Piazza Barberini and of course the Trevi fountain, offer a hint of the significance of the constant play of water through the city.
These structures do not sit peaceful and static in their piazzas, but erupt in dynamism and spectacle. The Trevi fountain, begun by Bernini, remains hidden until one is right in front of it. One happens on it "by surprise" and is easily taken off guard. The Four Rivers fountain produces a similar effect, amazing the visitor by the sudden appearance of an obelisk that seems to hover weightless above the basin.
These surprises, which so delight tourists, have greater meaning than just artistic sleight-of-hand. They invite the pilgrim to feel amazement and to recognize how something as simple as water can take on such greatness. By extension, the simplicity of baptism is contrasted with the greatness of its effect. The fountains of Rome call for conversion and spur pilgrims to live their Christian lives to the fullest.
Water held many meanings for the ancient world -- purification, life and health -- and in Christian Rome water also held the important sacramental sense of baptism. Papal Rome's generosity with water flowing in every piazza for citizens and pilgrims alike, echoed the universality and ubiquity of the message of salvation.
* * *
The Castel Sant'Angelo came into existence as an Imperial mausoleum for a pagan emperor. It then became a papal fortress and political prison before it turned into a tourist attraction. But this month, the forbidding walls of the castle house an exhibition of the most exuberant and joyful periods in Italian art, the Roman Baroque.
The "Roma Barocca" exhibit presents the triad that revolutionized art in the seventeenth century, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Francesco Borromini and Pietro da Cortona. While the first name on the list is well known to even the most fleeting visitor to Rome, the other two remain in relative obscurity. Yet these three architects are responsible for much of the Rome that we love and admire today.
The first room allows us to meet this remarkable cast of characters. Portraits abound, especially of Bernini. Many self-portraits of this sculptor and architect who also dabbled in painting show a self-assured, determined man. A beautifully executed portrait by Bernini's protégé, Giovanni Battista Gaulli, depicts the artist in his late 60s, looking every inch "the sovereign of art" as he would later be dubbed.
The following rooms contain didactic panels, presenting the characteristics of the work of the three artists. The panels are curved and face each other with one describing Bernini and the other Borromini. This juxtaposition reminds visitors of the bitter rivalry between the two artists, who vied for the hot commissions of their time. Borromini's strength lay in line and spatial control. His buildings like San Carlino flex and undulate with curved walls and geometric designs. Bernini was the master of theatrical architecture. Wide vistas such as the ellipse of St. Peter's Square swept pilgrims off their feet.
Pietro da Cortona was a judicious mixture of the two styles. Although a painter by training, like Borromini he preferred church decoration to be all white and to let the space speak for itself, eschewing the bright marble and brilliant gilding favored by Bernini. On the other hand, Pietro did not tend towards the exotic shapes of Borromini, but used dramatic juxtapositions of short naves and high domes to create a theatrical space.
All three artists made important contributions to St. Peter's, although Bernini was the mastermind behind most of the decoration of the basilica. Pietro da Cortona designed the mosaics for several of the cupolas while Borromini made the wrought-iron doors outside the Adoration Chapel.
The most interesting part of the Baroque show, however, is not in the drawings or casts of the works they actually executed, but the models of what the incomplete works would have looked like had they been finished. The notorious bell towers planned for St. Peter's, which cost Bernini his papal appointment when cracks formed in the façade as Bernini was erecting them, are shown in all their stages of planning.
An early idea for the Trevi fountain by Pietro da Cortona shows that he originated the idea of fusing the fountain to a palace facade. Visitors can see Borromini's vision of the church of Saint Agnes in all its glory as opposed to the present design which was altered several times before its completion. In Borromini's model, the dome of Saint Agnes should have towered over the building like a head and shoulders. While Borromini believed he was faithfully rendering Michelangelo's original plan for St. Peter's, everyone else thought the dome was too big and the project was modified.
The exhibit, which will stay open until Oct. 29, provides an interesting opportunity for visitors to meet the three men who created the Baroque, which was then exported all over the world. While remarkably different in training and background, these artists did have a common goal -- to render glory and beauty to the Eternal City.
On this warm summer night, what better way to cool down than to take a moment to refresh youself by visiting some of these magnificent Roman fountains. And many thanks to Elizabeth Lev who always entertains us with her historical perspectives on the City of Rome and the Vatican.
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NYer, these fountains are very beautiful. Mary and I only saw a few when we were in Rome in the month of November in 1985. Many of them were not spouting but they were still beautiful.
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