View Page: Piazza Navona and Bernini's Four Rivers Fountain

	Piazza Navona and Bernini's Four Rivers Fountain
	written by ninamil7 / 09.29.2005

Section Two

2 of 7

Description

Nina Miller

Rio de la Plata

The Rio de la Plata river god represents the Americas.

Nina Miller

Danube River

The Danube river god is seen here twisted with his arms up to support the papal coat of arms.

Nina Miller

Ganges River

The Ganges River god is straddling an oar to symbolize the navigability of the river.

Nina Miller

Nile River

The head of the Nile River god is covered to symbolize the fact that the source of the river was unknown at the time the fountain was made.

The basic design of the fountain is a travertine rock surrounded by four river gods, topped with a large Egyptian obelisk. The four river gods represent the four major continents of the world, as they were known in the 1600s. One surprising element of this fountain is the posture of the river gods. Traditionally, river gods were depicted in a lounging-position; they were hardly ever seen doing anything. In Bernini’s fountain, however, their twists, turns, and muscular contractions simulate the motions of the rivers they personify.

The river god on the northwest corner of the fountain is for the Rio de la Plata and represents the Americas. A bag of coins spilling out under the god’s feet symbolizes the riches of the New World. The river god is depicted as a black man, which reflects the fact that, at the time, very little was known about the Americas. To the left of the Rio de la Plata god is the god of the Danube River representing Europe. This statue has one of the most energetic poses of all the river gods. His body is twisted to the right and his arms are stretched out in order to support the large papal coat of arms at the base of the obelisk. Between the Danube and Rio de la Plata gods is a large horse. The horse was known to be native to both Europe and the Americas, thus representing a connection between the two continents. The Ganges River, representing Asia, is seen on the other side of the Danube. This river god straddles an oar to represent the navigability of the river through India. On the other side of this god is the god of the Nile River representing the fourth continent known at the time, Africa. The face of this god is covered with a cloth to symbolize the fact that the source of the Nile was unknown at the time the fountain was made. In between the Nile and Ganges gods is a lion and palm tree, known to be native to both Asia and Africa. The lion crouches down toward the water ready to drink, and the palm tree sways in the wind. The four gods are situated around a large travertine rock that serves as the base of the obelisk.

The travertine rock was carved to look like the quarry that the stone for the obelisk came from. In order to make the fountain more dramatic and astonish viewers to this day, Bernini carved out the center of the travertine so that a space through both sides of the base is open. The obelisk that rests on top of the travertine base was carved in Egypt and brought to Rome by Emperor Domitian. Domitian had a stonesman carve hieroglyphics that refer to Domian as “Eternal pharaoh” and Vespasian and Titus as gods. Resting on top of the obelisk is a dove, representative of both the Pamphili family and also the Holy Spirit.

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