the turtle fountain
The recently restored Renaissance fountain "of the turtles" was designed by Giocomo della Porta in 1581 and built by the sculptor Thaddeus Landini. The bronze figures are standing on four dolphins. Originally there were to be eight dolphins, but the water pressure was insuffiicent, so only four were installed. With the removal of the four extra dolphins, the upraised hands of the statues seemed to have no purpose.
So perhaps to correct this problem and balance the composition, in 1658 Pope Alexander VII commissioned Gian Lorenzo Bernini or Andrea Sacchi to cast an addition: the turtles.
When in 1979 one of turtles was stolen, the remaining originals were replaced by copies.
I love this piazza. I come here to sit and enjoy the water play, the silence of the adjacent streets. And the nearby Antico Forno bread bakery...
