Api font

Historic fountain in Rome created in 1644 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

The Fountain of the Bees is a historic fountain in Rome located on the corner of Piazza Barberini and Via Veneto. It was created in 1644 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
A few months after the Triton Fountain was completed, on April 6, 1644, Pope Urban VIII Barberini commissioned Gian Lorenzo Bernini to build a small fountain. It was for public use and was intended to serve as a "horse trough." The work was completed that same year. In honor of his patron, the artist depicted bees, the heraldic symbol of the pontiff's family, on the fountain.

Originally located on the corner of Palazzo Soderini, between Piazza Barberini and Via Sistina, the fountain was dismantled in 1880 due to traffic congestion. It was then dismantled and placed in the municipal warehouse in Testaccio. In 1915, when it was decided to rebuild it, most of the pieces were lost, and a copy was commissioned from Adolfo Apolloni. He used travertine in place of the original Luni marble, sourced from the demolished Porta Salaria. The lower valve, originally level with the street, was raised on a frame of boulders. The upper valve was no longer supported by a building, but instead placed in a free-standing position. Thus renovated, the fountain was inaugurated on January 28, 1916. It stands in its current location, at the entrance to Via Veneto from Piazza Barberini.

The fountain has the unusual shape of an open bivalve shell, with a vertical upper section. It was fashioned this way to fit the corner of the Palazzo Soderini behind it (where it once stood). The lower section, at street level, served as a basin. This round, fluted basin collects the water that flows from three thin jets, each one positioned beneath a bee. The bees are sculpted above the hinge connecting the valves. The fountain's water supply is guaranteed by the nearby Triton Fountain, with which it shares its water channeling. For this reason, the flow is rather meager, with water pressure too weak to allow Bernini to create a monumental fountain.

In their iconic simplicity, the three bees actually radiate multifaceted messages. Bees, in fact, are the heraldic symbol of the family of the commissioning Pope, Urban VIII Barberini. However, another interpretation is offered by the Treatise on the Love of God by Saint Francis de Sales, published in 1616. Here, bees are compared to souls during their earthly sojourn. This intertwining of meanings also celebrates the purity of the waters flowing from the fountain, so sweet they can be compared to the honey produced by bees. Furthermore, in the fountain, the water transforms into the subtle buzzing of bees, thus giving rise to a water-sound metamorphosis.
Continue on Wikipedia... >>