Bernini's fountain to be rescued from acid rain
One of Rome's most famous landmarks, the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona, is to have emergency repairs after centuries of erosion by acid rain, limescale and pigeon droppings.
"We had to act immediately or face a red alert," said Annamaria Pandolfi, the head of an 18-man team that aims to restore Gian Lorenzo Bernini's largest outdoor sculpture to its proper glory.
Giant figures representing the world's four great rivers, the Plate, the Nile, the Ganges and the Danube, were carved by Bernini in marble between 1648 and 1651 and set on a bed of travertine, a local stone. An obelisk rises from the top of the fountain.
"There is a problem with the stone being corroded," said Miss Pandolfi yesterday. "Under the armpit and knee of River Plate you can see that the marble is still smooth as it once was. But the amazing and enormous head is rough and lined like an old man."
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
"We had to act immediately or face a red alert," said Annamaria Pandolfi, the head of an 18-man team that aims to restore Gian Lorenzo Bernini's largest outdoor sculpture to its proper glory.
Giant figures representing the world's four great rivers, the Plate, the Nile, the Ganges and the Danube, were carved by Bernini in marble between 1648 and 1651 and set on a bed of travertine, a local stone. An obelisk rises from the top of the fountain.
"There is a problem with the stone being corroded," said Miss Pandolfi yesterday. "Under the armpit and knee of River Plate you can see that the marble is still smooth as it once was. But the amazing and enormous head is rough and lined like an old man."