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| Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi - Fountain of the Four Rivers - Piazza Navona Series |
| Oris Barber's Commentary: "This photo shows Bernini's figure depicting the Nile River, with face covered, and Borromini's church in background." |
| According to legend, the figure representing the Nile has its face covered so that it cannot see the façade of the church of Sant' Agnese, designed by Bernini's rival, Francesco Borromini. And the figure representing the River Plate is raising its hand, as if to stop the church from falling down. In fact neither is true as the church was begun a year after the fountain was completed. The true explanation is this: The Nile's face is covered and the River Plate's hand is raised to shield its eyes because the sources of both rivers were unknown at the time. |
| When Bernini designed the sculpture of the fountain, one of the few works he carried out for a Pope with whom he was on bad terms, he intended the rivers to represent the four quarters of the known world. But he may also have had something else in mind. Bernini was very close to the Jesuits, founded a century earlier by St Ignatius Loyola, and as a young sculptor he helped his father on monuments in the first Jesuit church in Rome, the Gesù. According to one theory, the four rivers actually represent those parts of the world where the Jesuits hoped to make converts for the Catholic cause. |
| The figure pulling the veil over his head represents the Nile, and a symbolic palm tree at his side appears to hold up the Egyptian obelisk. There is also a magnificent lion crouching to drink from the fountain. The figure sitting astride a staff represents the Danube. The one holding up the papal shield stands for the River Plate. The figure with an Oriental face and a dragon alongside it stands for the Ganges. All four of the figures are surrounded by flora and fauna characterising their respective continents. |
