Roma - Fontane

Piazza Navona
Fontana dei Fiumi

Pope Innocence X Pamphilj authorised work on the removal of the obelisk from the Circo Massenzio and its placement in Piazza Navona, according to Bernini's project. Around this monolinth were placed four white marble statues, five metres tall which represented rivers. The first was by Claude Poussin and was dedicated to the Ganges, symbolising Asia; the Nile, representing Africa, was carved by Giacomo Antonio Fancelli, its veiled head standing for the up till then unknown source of the river, the Danube for Europe, carved by Antonio Raggi and finally the Rio de la Plata, representing America by Francesco Baratta.