Fontana di Clemente XII

Located next to the Arch of Porta Furba, between the Felix Aqueduct and the Via Tuscolana, the Fountain of Clement XII, although little known because off the usual tourist routes, is one of the countless jewels that embellish the Eternal City with their exuberant and sumptuous lines.

Originally, in its place stood a fountain built in 1586 by the architect Domenico Fontana, commissioned by Pope Sixtus V Peretti (1585-1590) to provide refreshment for pilgrims who arrived in Rome tired and thirsty after long days of walking. Today, all that remains of this fountain is the inscription visible on the Arch of Porta Furba.

The fountain was completely rebuilt, possibly based on a design by Luigi Vanvitelli,  during the pontificate of Clement XII Corsini (1730-1740), the same pope who was responsible for the Trevi Fountain, the renovation of the façade of the Basilica of St. John Lateran (1732-35) and the restoration and completion of the Arch of Constantine.

The current fountain, affectionately and rightly called ‘Fontana Bella’ (Beautiful Fountain), is leaning against a brick arch flanked by two rusticated pillars. Water flows from a mask with bat wings, on which rests the coat of arms of Cardinal Felice Passerini, then President of the Water Authority, into the shell-shaped basin below. From here, the water falls, together with that from two side spouts, into a vaulted basin raised on five steps added during the restoration in 1897. The work is crowned by an arched cornice with two large ornamental spheres at each end.

The façade of the fountain bears the coat of arms of Clement XII and an inscription that reads: CLEMENS PAPA XII, FONTEM ACQUA FELICIAE, IAM DIU COLLAPSUM, PUBBLICAE RESTITUIT COMMADIATI FELICE PASSERINO C.A.C., ET AQUARIUM PRESIDE, ANNO MDCCXXXIII (Pope Clement XII had the long-ruined fountain restored, being Felice Passerino, C.Ac. and superintendent of waters, in the year of Our Lord 1733).

Fountain of Clement XII ph. Turismo Rom