Page 166 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Rome

164  ROME AREA B Y AREA

Maggiore and Trinità dei Monti,
and the one that stands in
Piazza del Quirinale.

r Moses Fountain
Fontana dell’Acqua Felice, Piazza San
Bernardo. Map 5 C2. @ 36, 60, 61, 62,
492. q Repubblica.
Officially known as the Fontana
dell’Acqua Felice, this fountain
owes its popular name to the
grotesque statue of Moses in
the central niche. The massive Fontana’s Moses Fountain
structure with its three elegant
Fountain of Strength (or Juno) arches was designed by stories from the Old Testament:
e Le Quattro Domenico Fontana to mark Aaron leading the Israelites to
water and Joshua pointing the
the terminal of the Acqua
Fontane Felice aqueduct, so called army toward the Red Sea. The
because it was one of the fountain’s four lions are copies
Intersection of Via delle Quattro
Fontane and Via del Quirinale. Map 5 many great improvements of Egyptian originals (now in
B3. @ Routes to Piazza Barberini or commissioned by Felice Peretti, the Vatican Museums), which
Via Nazionale. q Barberini. Pope Sixtus V. Completed in Sixtus V had put there for
1587, it brought clean piped the public’s “convenience”
These four small fountains are water to this quarter of Rome and “delight.”
attached to the corners of the for the first time.
buildings at the intersection The notorious statue of
of two narrow, busy streets. Moses striking water from
They date from the great the rock is larger than life
redevelopment of Rome in the and the proportions of
reign of Sixtus V (1585–90). the body are obviously
Each fountain has a statue of a wrong. Sculpted either
reclining deity. The river god by Prospero Bresciano
accompanied by the she-wolf or Leonardo Sormani,
is clearly the Tiber; the other it is a clumsy attempt
male figure may be the Arno. at recreating the
The female figures represent awesome appearance of
Strength and Fidelity or the Michelangelo’s Moses in
goddesses Juno and Diana. the church of San Pietro in
The crossroads is at the Vincoli (see p172). As soon as
highest point of the Quirinal hill it was unveiled, it was said to Gold coin with head of the Emperor
and commands splendid views be frowning at having been Diocletian (AD 285–305)
of three distant land mark brought into the world by such
obelisks: those placed by an inept sculptor. The side t Santa Maria degli
Sixtus V in front of Santa Maria reliefs also illustrate water
Angeli e dei Martiri
Piazza della Repubblica. Map 5 C3.
Tel 06-488 0812. @ 36, 60, 61, 62, 64,
84, 90, 116, 170, 492, 910.
q Repubblica, Termini.
Open 7am–6:30pm Mon–Sat,
7am–7:30pm Sun. 5 7 =
Parts of the ruined Baths of
Diocletian (right) provided
building material for this church,
constructed by Michelangelo in
1563. The church was so altered
in the 18th century that it has
lost most of its original character.
An exhibition in the sacristy
gives a detailed account of
Fidelity (or Diana) with her attendant dog, one of the Quattro Fontane Michelangelo’s original design.

US_164-165_EW_Rome_US.indd 164 15/03/17 4:20 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.9)
Date 20th August 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm