Fontana delle Tartarughe, in Piazza Mattei, Rome

The Fontane delle Tartarughe (The Turtle Fountain) is a fountain of the late Italian Renaissance located in the Piazza Mattei, in the Sant'Angelo district of Rome.

[edit] History

The fountain receives its water from the Acqua Vergine, an ancient Roman aqueduct restored by the Roman Popes in the 16h century. It is located in a small square surrounded by the palaces of the the Mattei, one of the wealthy and powerful families of Rome during the 16th century. The fountain was originally going to be placed in the Piazza Giudea, the site of a market, but under the influence of Muzio Mattei it was constructed instead next to the palaces of the Mattei. . In exchange the Mattei agreed to pave the piazza and to maintain the fountain.

The fountain was designed by the architect Giacomo della Porta in 1581. The sculptor Taddeo Landini ornamented the fountain with the statues of four ephebes, or young adolescent men, and eight dolphins, originally intended to be of marble but finally made of bronze. The fountain was finished in 1588. The water pressure was not sufficient to make the fountain work as it was designed, so four of the dolphins were moved to another fountain, the Fontana della Terrina, which was in the Campo de'Fiori and then in front of the Chiesa Nuova church.

The fountain is composed of square basin with four marble conch shells surrounding a circular vasque of African marble mounted on a pedestal in the center. Around the edge of the vasque are the heads of putti which spout water into the basin below. The four ephebes are placed around the fountain, each resting one foot on the head of a dolphin, and raising up one hand toward the edge of the vasque. Water pours out of the mouths of the dolphins into the conch shells, then into the basin below.

The four turtles around the edge of the vasque were added during a restoration of the fountain in 1658 ordered by Pope Alexander VII. They are usually attributed either to Gian Lorenzo Bernini or Andrea Sacchi. The date of the restoration is recorded on four scrolls of marble around the fountain.

The statue is equipped with a water purification system to prevent the buildup of calcium deposits, which had required the frequent cleaning of the fountain.

In 1979 one of the turtles was stolen from the fountain. After the theft the original turtles were replaced by copies. The water purification system ws replaced in 2003 and the marble and bronze of the fountain were extensively restored and preserved in 2006.^[1]

[edit] The Legend of the Turtle Fountain

A popular legend claims that the Duc Mattei, ruined by gambling, ordered the fountain to be built in a single day in order to impress the wealthy father of a woman he wished to marry. He showed his future father-in-law the new fountain from the window of his palazzo. The story is only a legend; the fountain was built in 1585-88, while the palazzo was not constructed until 1616. ^[2]

See Also: List of fountains in Rome

[edit] Sources and Citations

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