FOUNTAIN OF THE NAIADS, ROME

The Fountain of the Naiads is the centre of the Piazza della Repubblica in Rome.

The original fountain here was called Acqua Pia and it was connected to the Aqua Marcia Aqueduct which terminated at Termini Station nearby. The Fountain of the Naiads was commissioned by Pope Pius lx in 1870 and completed 18 years later in 1888.

Originally it was a series of undecorated basins which most people agreed looked rather bare. On the occasion of the visit of the German Emperor William ll four lions made of plaster and designed by Alessandro Guerrieri were placed at the corners of the fountain but this was only a temporary solution and the people of Rome started to psh for a more permanent answer.

In 1901 Mario Ruteili was commissioned to complete the fountain and he produced statues of 4 naiads of water nymphs:

-          The Nymph of the Lakes (recognizable by the swan she holds)

-          The Nymph of the Rivers (stretched out on a monster of the rivers)

-          The Nymph of the Oceans (riding a hourse symbolizing of the sea)

-          The Nymph of the Underground Waters (learning over a mysterious dragon).

The group of sculptures in the middle is called the group of the Glauco and was also made by Rutelli (in 1912). It depicts the fisherman Glauco fighting a fish and is supposed to symbolize the dominion of mankind over natural forces.