Pope Clement XII’s Porta Furba fountain

Pope Clement XII’s wonderful Porta Furba fountain. Pope Clement had it built in 1733 by the architect Francesco Bianchi.

The travertine fountain consists of a winged mask that pours water into a shell-shaped basin. It is against a wall decorated with smooth ashlars embellished by an arched frame and two decorative spheres. It was originally known as “Fontana Bella.”

At the top, above the fountain, is Pope Clement XII’s coat of arms, made up of many diagonal stripes and a horizontal one placed right in the middle of the coat of arms.

Above the mask is a box with an inscription commemorating the works commissioned by Pope Clement XII and the Pontiff’s coat of arms,

This is the epigraph of another fountain built in 1585 by the architect Domenico Fontana at the behest of Pope Sixtus V, which can still be seen today on the arch of Porta Furba.

The Florentine cardinal Lorenzo Corsini, after four months of a papal conclave, was elected pope in July 1730 and took the name Clement XII. As he was already 78 years old, he was considered a transitional pope, but his pontificate lasted 10 years. His works were many, including the reconstruction of the facade of the Basilica of San Giovanni, the Trevi Fountain, and the restoration of the Colosseum.