Fontana di Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome

Fontana di Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere is the fountain set in the square before the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere. Its broad bowl and sculpted shells preserve the work of several celebrated hands. It is widely regarded as Rome’s oldest fountain still in operation, despite repeated rebuilding, repairs, and a change of site.

A much earlier water monument may have occupied this spot in the imperial age. A restoration carried out from fourteen ninety-six to fifteen oh one may have involved Donato Bramante, who gave the surviving upper bowl wolf-head spouts. Bernini reshaped the fountain when it was moved into the centre of the piazza in sixteen fifty-eight, adding shells that sent water from their backs. Carlo Fontana later enlarged the travertine basin and replaced them with larger shells turned toward the water.