Fontana delle Api
Bernini, Gian Lorenzo; Urban VIII, Pope
Download1A1-BG-FA-A6_cp.jpg (464.1Kb)
Alternative Title
Fountain of the Bees
Date
1644Description
Detail depicting the left fountain head and bee; "The fountain was erected by Urban VIII [Maffeo Barberini] in the last year of his pontificate (1644) against the corner of a palace where the via Sistian abuts on Piazza Barberini. In 1865 it was removed and the pieces stored till 1915 when it was reconstructed...the upper shell, with the inscription, is part of the original, but the lower is a complete and arbitrary reconstruction. Only the concetto of the double shell, a symbol of life and fertility, with the Barberini bees, survives what must have been a peculiarly concentrated invention of Bernini." p. 230 Source: Blunt, Anthony; Guide to baroque Rome, London ; New York : Granada, 1982 (0246117621) (accessed 12/2/2007)
Type of Work
fountainSubject
animals, architectural exteriors, rulers and leaders, Fountains, Urban VIII, Pope, 1568-1644, Baroque
Rights
Rights Statement
Licensed for educational and research use by the MIT community only