Fontana del Tritone, Baroque Masterpiece of Myth and Sea

Piazza Barberini, Roma, Italia

Baroque sculptor Bernini's another work

Introduction

The Trevi Fountain is a Baroque-style fountain from the 17th century, located in the Piazza Barberini in Rome. It was created by the famous sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, with funding from Pope Urban VIII. At the center of the fountain is the mythological figure of Triton, a muscular youth holding a conch shell and raising his arms as if to drink from it. He has the appearance of a sea creature with the tail of four dolphins supporting his figure. The tails of the dolphins are adorned with the papal tiara and the Barberini family's bees and crossed keys emblem. In Greek mythology, Triton is the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite, usually depicted as a merman with the upper half of a human and the lower half of a fish tail. Triton carries a trident and is also known as a messenger of the sea who can blow the conch shell to create deafening sounds that even giants can't resist. The Trevi Fountain is considered one of the masterpieces of Baroque art, with its powerful and elegant design. It is located next to the Barberini Palace and was designed and built by Bernini for the Barberini family of Pope Urban VIII.