86 GARDENS OF THE OUIRINAL, AND SOME STREET FOUNTAINS IN ROME. 



Benedict XIII. In February, 1730, a mass of marble for the statues was landed at Ripa 

 Grande, and Domenica Fontana and other sculptors were at work upon them. In October, 

 1732, they began to pull down the old fountain, and the Vatican archives are full of notes 

 of progress and payments. What was meant to be the last sum was assigned in 

 1735 f r the central crown, but a little later another fifteen thousand crowns were given 

 for the final decorations. Niccola Salvi died, old and paralysed, before the work was 

 finished, which was not until 1762. It seems probable that he unearthed and modified the 

 design of the great sei-cento artist, but we cannot credit him with an originality and 

 decorative feeling which he displayed in nothing else. The design is, indeed, to some extent 

 spoilt by alteration, for Prince Doria's sketch is far more spirited. The god of the ocean is 

 more majestic, the horses are more wild and graceful, and the existing fountain group looks 

 cold and mannered by contrast. It is curious that public opinion, without troubling itself to 

 enquire, has always attributed the fountain to Bernini. 



Memoirs of the time relate how fond Alfieri the poet was of Trevi, and how he would come 

 there at daybreak on a summer morning from his house near Diocletian's baths and sit on one 

 of the low benches fashioned out of the rock, close to the water's edge, and stay there dreaming 

 and listening to the water, till the noise and bustle of the waking town drove him away. How 

 many people have stopped to drink of the water, half mocking at, half believing in, the 

 superstition that says it will bring them back to Rome providing they cast a coin into the waters ? 

 It is a spell that has little force in these days of easy travel, when a run to Italy for a few weeks 

 is a thing of yearly occurrence. It was different in the days when it was one of the great 

 events of a lifetime, and when comparatively few could hope to make the long and costly 

 journey a second time, E. M. P. 



The Acqua Paula on the Janiculum is a fine architectural fountain fa$ade whose sobriety is 

 in marked contrast with many of the later works of the Renaissance period. It was constructed 

 under Paul V in 1613 by Giovanni Fontana. The large scale assists in producing its imposing 

 effect. 



The Quattro Fontana. The old engraving reproduced shows a characteristic piece of street 

 planning. The intersection of the Via Quattro Fontana and the Via del Quirinale provides a 

 setting for four fountains planned on the canted corners. This idea has been the basis of many 

 modern developments. A. T. B. 



