Local Guides World
17th-century baroque fountain shaped like a ship, located at the foot of the iconic Spanish Steps.
Photos
There are no photos for this place yet!
Reviews — 8
Magnificent, incomparable, beautiful, majestic and very highest quality creation of human hands in this eternal city. This splendor was built in the first half of the 17th century by the legendary Pietro Bernini, who was probably helped by his capable and gifted son Gian Lorenzo.
Beautiful fountain to visit. If you want tot ale some private photos, I would recommend arriving early in the morning.
If you trust your balance, take a step over the rock (on the left of my image) and into the fountain where you can take a drink!
If you trust your balance, take a step over the rock (on the left of my image) and into the fountain where you can take a drink!
Beautiful Bernini fontana that is boat shaped down by the Spanish Steps.
It's a beautiful Bernini fountain, one of the many reputed ones around the centre of the city. It's charmingly located in front of the Spanish Steps, which might take off some of its fantastical element, so pay attention! Probably my favourite Bernini fountain!
I went at 5:45AM and it was practically empty. The area was pretty clean and easy to walk up and down the stairs.
The Fontana della Barcaccia is a famous fountain in Rome, near the Spanish Steps. It was designed by Pietro Bernini and his son Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who were both talented sculptors. The fountain is shaped like a half-sunken boat.
The Fountain of the Boat was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and his father Pietro, and completed in 1629.
The sculptural fountain is in the shape of a half-sunken ship with water overflowing its sides into a small basin. The source of the water comes from the Acqua Vergine, an ancient Roman aqueduct from 19 BC. Bernini built this fountain to be slightly below street level due to the low water pressure from the aqueduct.
This disadvantage made the work a prime illustration of one of Bernini’s basic principles of design: "The highest praise of art consists in knowing how to make use of the little, and the bad, and the unsuitable for the purpose of making beautiful things, so that the defect becomes useful".
Pope Urban VIII, who commissioned the fountain, wrote the following poetic verse:
The papal warship does not pour forth flames,
But sweet water to extinguish the fire of war.
The sculptural fountain is in the shape of a half-sunken ship with water overflowing its sides into a small basin. The source of the water comes from the Acqua Vergine, an ancient Roman aqueduct from 19 BC. Bernini built this fountain to be slightly below street level due to the low water pressure from the aqueduct.
This disadvantage made the work a prime illustration of one of Bernini’s basic principles of design: "The highest praise of art consists in knowing how to make use of the little, and the bad, and the unsuitable for the purpose of making beautiful things, so that the defect becomes useful".
Pope Urban VIII, who commissioned the fountain, wrote the following poetic verse:
The papal warship does not pour forth flames,
But sweet water to extinguish the fire of war.
