"Redditus orbis erat": the political rhetoric of Bernini's Fountains in Piazza Barberini

• Autores: Matthew Knox Averett
• Localización: Sixteenth century journal: the journal of Early Modern Studies, ISSN 0361-0160, Nº. 1, 2014, págs. 3-24
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This article reconsiders Gian Lorenzo Bernini's "Triton Fountain" and "Fountain of the Bees", both commissioned by Pope Urban VIII Barberini. Modern scholarship, citing a Renaissance emblem in which Triton represents "immortality acquired by literary study", has asserted that the "Triton Fountain" is a statement on the literary achievements of Urban, who was a poet of some note. In classical literature, however, Triton often appears as a combatant in divinely sanctioned warfare. It was this image of Triton that was used in the "Triton Fountain" in an attempt to justify the Barberini's prosecution of the disastrous War of Castro. The "Fountain of the Bees", built just months after the end of the war, complements the earlier fountain, while also marking a hoped-for return to the peaceful antebellum days of Urban's earlier reign. Through an examination of these fountains, the historical context in which they were built, and the political motivations for Barberini artistic patronage, this article explains the wartime political rhetoric of Bernini's fountains in Piazza Barberini.