Fontana del Nettuno – a story of a water reservoir transformed into an elegant fountain

Fontana del Nettuno, Piazza Navona

Fontana del Nettuno, Piazza Navona

Initially this fountain was just a simple, stone reservoir and it had no decorations while its name for 300 years was Fontana dei Calderari, meaning the fountain of coppersmiths – craftsmen who inhabited the nearby narrow streets leading to the northern part of Piazza Navona. They used this water reservoir both at work and during their everyday life.

Fontana del Nettuno, Piazza Navona
Fontana del Nettuno, Piazza Navona, northern part
Fontana del Nettuno, Piazza Navona
Fontana del Nettuno, Piazza Navona
Fontana del Nettuno, Piazza Navona
Fontana del Nettuno, Piazza Navona, northern part
Fontana del Nettuno, Piazza Navona, northern part
Fontana del Nettuno, Piazza Navona

Initially this fountain was just a simple, stone reservoir and it had no decorations while its name for 300 years was Fontana dei Calderari, meaning the fountain of coppersmiths – craftsmen who inhabited the nearby narrow streets leading to the northern part of Piazza Navona. They used this water reservoir both at work and during their everyday life.

 

It was built, just as the one at the southern edge of the square (Fontana del Moro), in the second part of the XVI century (1574) by Giacomo della Porta. A more elegant appearance was given to the reservoir in the following century by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. However, it was not until 70’s of the XIX century when it was decided that it would be properly decorated. In order to achieve this goal the city set up a sculpting competition, which would best fit with the two remaining fountains found at Piazza Navona. For years the jury debated on the appropriate decoration, discarding the concept with a central figure of a woman, which could have constituted a pendant for the figure of the Moor on the opposite side of the square, when finally the Roman sculptor Antonio della Bitta created a design which pleased everybody. In the central part of his composition he put the sea god Neptune accompanied by water nymphs, sea horses and putti, fighting an octopus. Only after its completion the more elegant name was used, calling the structure The Fountain of Neptune.