This is the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (“Fountain of the Four Rivers”) which I had stupidly confused with the Trevi Fountain. This is the fountain I had always wanted to see. In fact, I went full-Aragorn when I saw it, murmuring, “Long have I desired to look upon the [rivers] of old.”
It was designed by Bernini in 1651. Beneath yet another Egyptian obelisk, there are four sculptures personifying the four great rivers of the four continents over which papal authority had spread:The Ganges representing Asia…
…the Río de la Plata representing the Americas….
…the Danube representing Europe…
…and the Nile representing Africa.
And this is the one I have always wanted to see because I fucking love this: the sculpture of the Nile is depicted with its head covered because, at the time of its sculpting, the source of the Nile was unknown to Europeans.
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