LA FONTANA DELLE QUATTRO FIUME -- Bernini, Piazza Navona

Speranza

Bernini envisioned a great island rock, a sort of ULTIMA THULE, from which FOUR RIVERS of the four continents: EUROPA, ASIA, AFRICA ed AMERICA -- spring.

Each river is personified by a STATUE.

The marble figures of the four rivers were done after Bernini's designs by assistants:

ANTONIO RAGGI (Danubio, arms up).
JACOPO ANTONIO FANCELLI (Nilo, head covered because, according to Baldinucci, its source was long UNDISCOVERED).
FRANCESCO BARATTA (Fiume della Plata -- with coins symbolising the riches of AMERICA).
CLAUDIO POUSSIN (Ganges, with oar).