The four giants
Circle the whole fountain: each figure tells a continent through its plants, animals, coins and features.
Fiat 500e — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sjaak Kempe from Groningen, The Netherlands — CC BY 2.0 · Falk2 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Paolo Villa — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Trevi is larger and more theatrical (an entire palace façade); this is finer carving and richer meaning — four continents in one composition. One is watched; the other is read.
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Three fountains punctuate Piazza Navona, and the most famous stands at its centre: Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers, carved in 1651. Four marble giants personify the rivers of the then-known continents — the Nile for Africa, the Ganges for Asia, the Danube for Europe and the Río de la Plata for the Americas — seated on a hollowed rock carrying an Egyptian obelisk. Every detail means something: the Nile veils his head because his source was unknown; the Ganges holds an oar because his river is navigable; the Río de la Plata sits among gold coins for New World wealth. A lion, a horse and a palm complete the geographical tableau. At the southern end stands the Fountain of the Moor (a man wrestling a dolphin), at the northern the Fountain of Neptune. All three are free and lit at night. Advice: come early to see the carving without crowds — Bernini cut these details to be read close up, and at midday getting near is impossible.
Circle the whole fountain: each figure tells a continent through its plants, animals, coins and features.
The Nile is said to veil his face in disdain for Borromini's church opposite — a lovely story, though the church came after the fountain.
Two less famous, less crowded fountains at either end — Neptune wrestling an octopus in full motion.
Piazza Navona, Rome
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