Fontana delle Tartarughe

The fountain was made between 1581 and 1588 to a design by Giacomo della Porta, 1533 to 1602, with sculpture by the Florentine Taddeo Landini, 1550 to 1596. The Sovrintendenza Capitolina gives the materials as africano, pavonazzetto, white and bigio marble, travertine and bronze, and the original supply as the Acqua Vergine. A fountain had been decided for piazza Giudea in 1570, and the nobleman Muzio Mattei prevailed on the administration to move it to the square his own house faced, undertaking in exchange to have the square paved at his expense and to keep the fountain clean. Four of the eight intended dolphins were never installed because the water pressure would not lift them, and went to the Fontana della Terrina. The four turtles, traditionally attributed to Bernini, were added in the restoration of 1658 to 1659 under Alexander VII, which four marble cartouches record. Roma Capitale records that the turtles were stolen in 1906, in 1944 and in 1981, and that three surviving originals are in the Musei Capitolini. The fountain was restored in 2005 to 2006 with new water treatment, and again in 2025 under the PNRR Caput Mundi programme.