Fontana del Tritone

Standing at the centre of Piazza Barberini, this Baroque fountain was carved by Bernini around 1643 for his patron Pope Urban VIII. It shows a muscular sea god kneeling on a shell held aloft by four dolphins, blowing a jet of water skyward through a conch. The Barberini bees and papal insignia appear among the dolphins' tails, marking the family's patronage. As one of the earliest of Bernini's public fountains, it helped establish the theatrical, sculptural style that would define Roman fountains for a century.