Fountain of the column of Peace - Roma, Italy
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N 41° 53.826 E 012° 29.956
33T E 292554 N 4641375
The fountain of the column of Peace is locate on the Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore in front of the basilica of the same name in Rome, Italy.
Waymark Code: WM110ZA
Location: Lazio, Italy
Date Posted: 07/26/2019
Views: 6
The fountain accompanying the column of Peace is by Carlo Maderno. This large and relatively bland basin, attached to one side of the Column was ordered by Pope Paul V to replace a fountain placed here during the Middle Ages. Originally, the basin was of an irregular oblong shape with two small "eagle" water fountains on the longer sides and, in between, at the curved ends, two large dragons. The eagles can still be seen above the masks, but the dragons disappeared according to records in the 19th century.
The Colonna della Pace in front of the basilica used to belong to the Basilica of Maxentius in the Forum, and is a gigantic ribbed Corinthian monolith, described as being of Parian marble. It was erected here on its very high plinth by Carlo Maderno in 1614, on the orders of Pope Paul V. Two eagles and two dragons in bronze adorn the plinth, which derive from the pope's family of the Borghese. The statue of the Immaculate Conception on top is in cast bronze which was formerly gilded, and the wax model for it was by Guillaume Berthelot. The actual caster was Orazio Censore.
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