Tossing coins into the Trevi, the last day of class!

Last Day of Class! by Richelle Mehlhaff

Wednesday was the last day of our Art History class and we heard presentations from Kelly Anthony on the Palazzo Barberini and Nicolette Moser on the Trevi Fountain.
The Palazzo Barberini was the palace where the Barberini family used to live in Rome. They were not a noble family in their older ancestry but had risen to power through their wealth getting positions in the Papacy and secular Roman offices. The Barberini Pope Uban VIII and the Barberini family were famous for patroning a lot of art work around the city. This palace is where both the papal and secular side of the family would live and entertain. The rooms are beautifully decorated with art that reflects the mission of the family to legitimize their power both the religious and governmental sections of Rome.

Here is the family coat of arms, three bees with the Papal keys and crown above them. Before this, the Barberini family crest was horseflies, but the Barberini Pope changed the crest to bees for their greater symbolism.

We also got a special tour inside the palace of a room with a ceiling fresco where Lisa Schultz did a lot of research for her dissertation.

Following Kelly’s presentation we walked over to the Trevi Fountain and learned about the history of the aquaduct that supplies the Trevi, the Aqua Virgin. Carving the Trevi Fountain took a long time and lot of money. Currently the money people toss into the fountain is collected daily, and totals around 3,000 Euros which is donated to a charity providing food to needy people in Rome, and to the Red Cross. The figure in the middle of the fountain is a river god with two figures beneath him representing the calm and wild side of the river.