Tabula Secunda quae Obelisci Caracallae seu Circi Castrensis ac Fontis Agonalis Prospectum a parte orientali ostendit

The Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona in Rome, with the central obelisk flanked by sculpted effigies of the Ganges River on the left and the Nile River on the right.

Engraved by Louis Gommier and printed by Domenico de Rossi. This is the pair commissioned by Domenico de Rossi of the engraving by François de Poilly, published by his father Gian Giacomo de Rossi.

The work shows the baroque fountain with the central obelisk (Obelisco Agonale), the statues representing the four main rivers and the dove with an olive branch on top, symbol of the Pamphilj family. Bernini created it after falling out of favor with the Pamphili family; his great fame had in fact suffered a setback, following the failure of his bell tower in St. Peter's and for having worked with the Barberini family, who had always been in antagonism with the Pamphili family. It was his sister-in-law, Donna Olimpia, who presented Innocent X with a vision of the silver model of Bernini's fountain, which left a very favorable impression on the pontiff, and so the important commission was entrusted to the sculptor, who developed the extraordinary allegory that aimed to express the triumph of the Catholic Church over the four continents symbolized by the personifications of the rivers: the Nile, the Ganges, the Rio de la Plata, and the Danube.

Louis Gomier was a Parisian engraver, mostly active in Rome: he signed his name in full "Louis Gomer, de Gomer Paris," and more often with the monogram "L.G. Sculp."

Etching, printed on contemporary laid paper, with margins, in perfect condition. Rare.

Bibliografia

Nagler G.K., Neues Allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon, vol. 5 p. 286; C.A. Petrucci, Catalogo Generale Delle Stampe Tratte Dai Rami Incisi Posseduti dalla Regia Calcografia di Roma, 1251, p. 135; Thieme U. - Becker F., Allgemeines Lexikon Der Bildenden Künstler, vol. 14 p. 364.