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“A Faun Teased by Children” is one of Bernini’s earliest works. The artist completed this work in 1616 when he was about eighteen years old. Bernini completed this small yet masterful sculpture under the supervision of his father

The Artist Giovan Battista Recco was born around 1615 in Naples, and he is assumed to be the brother of Giacomo Recco and thus also born into an intergenerational family workshop. Little is known about Giovan Battista Recco, as there are few works…

The Flaminian Obelisk was originally established by pharaoh Seti I at Heliopolis, around 1300 BC, standing almost 24 meters high and weighing 235 tons. His son Ramses II finished the monument by adding hieroglyphs. Augustus re-erected it in Campus…

Anna Maria Vaiani is another female artist who did floral designs. In Giovanni Battista Ferrari’s piece on gardening, Flora, ouero, Cultura di fiori, (1638) Vaiani etched many of the floral designs. Like Garzoni, her designs played on anatomy of…

The Artist Giuseppe Recco was born into an intergenerational family workshop of still-life painters in 1634 in Naples [1]. Much of what is known about Giuseppe comes from Bernardo De Dominici’s Vite dei pittori, scultori ed architetti napoletani,…

The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi has a long and laborious past, involving a competition for the construction of the fountain. The fountain resides in the Piazza Navona, flanked by two other fountains, including the Fontana del Moro. The fountain was…

Located on the opposite side of the Piazza Navona as the Fontana del Nettuno, the Fontana del Moro creates a highly interesting dialogue. The Fontana del Moro, while not as famous as the central Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi in the Piazza Navona, manages…

The Fontana del Nettuno is one of many fountains that adorn Piazza Navona. Located on one side of the central Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, the Fontana del Nettuno has a quiet presence to it. The fountain was built in 1574 by Giacomo della Porta,…

The Fontana del Tritone stands in the middle of the Piazza Barberini. This fountain takes water from the Acqua Felice in order to create this beautiful and powerful piece of art. The fountain was commissioned by Pope Urban VIII, and was the last…

During the papacies of Pope Pius IV (1559-1565) and Gregory XIII (1575-1585) it was clear that the current water supply, which was primarily from Acqua Vergine (Rome's oldest functioning aqueduct), was insufficient to support expanding Rome's growing…