SALVI, Niccolò
(b. 1697, Roma, d. 1751, Roma)

Fountain of Trevi (detail)

1732-62
Marble
Piazza di Trevi, Rome

Although not actually completed till the eighteenth century, the Fountain of Trevi may be described as the apotheosis of the Baroque interpretation of the value of the water. Issuing from articulated rocks full of living organism, the flowing water unites the mythological theme (the Triumph of Neptune) with the transformation of the palace into a monumental sculpture.