Bernini vs. Borromini - 1 - The Four Rivers' Fountain

The two Geniuses of the Baroque in Rome, Bernini and Borromini, were divided by an unfriendly rivalry, which had outbursts which remained famous among Roman people. 

The two artist often competed to obtain the assignment of the construction of buildings, fountains and statues, but, more than anything else, they competed to be considered the best artist operating in Rome. 

Bernini was considered by far a better artist, given the marvelous artworks he adorned Rome with during all his life, while Borromini prided himself with his superior technical knowledge. being more of an Architect, and less of a Sculptor. This difference became especially evident when Bernini was appointed the construction of the 3 fountains in Piazza Navona, with the one in the middle of the square being the famous "Four Rivers' Fountain" (depicting the Tiber, The Nile, the Hindus and the Rio de la Plata), right in front of the church of S. Agnese in Agone, built by Borromini. 

Bernini started his work, but got stuck at a given point, because he did not manage to get water flowing from the fountain, and could not figure out why. His rival Borromini, being a great techinician, knew the solution to the problem, but he declared that he would rather be torture than telling his arch rival how to fix it.  Bernini was desperate, but he came up with one of his great ideas: he paid some people to invite him to dinner, and made him drunk. Under the effect of alcohol, the intoxicated artist revealed that the problem was in one of the pipelines bringing water to the fountain. Armed with this insight, Bernini performed the necessary adjustment, and, to his rival's astonishment, made the water spring out of his brand new artwork.

Not satisfied with this victory, Bernini enjoyed also some revenge over his rival: looking at the statue facing Borromini's church's façade, you can notice the man is in an odd position, gesturing as if he is prefenting the church from falling down, or scared by the building's ugliness. 

The Frescoes in Villa Farnesina - A case of "Artistic Espionage"

Villa Farnesina is a wonderful building in Renaissance style, right next to the Lungotevere, on the Trastevere side (Right Bank of the Tiber). It was built by Agostino Chigi, a famous banker from the Tuscan city of Siena, who, in 1472, founded the still open bank of "Monte dei Paschi di Siena". 


This building, configured as a "Suburban Villa" as opposed to the city palace, (Palazzo Chigi) where now is the Office of the Prime Minister, is currently owned by the "Accdemia dei Lincei" Italy's National Scientific Academy, and one of the most ancient (if not the most ancient) of such Institutions in the world. The whole building is decorated with scenes from Greek and Roman Myths, with the most remarkable room being the "Loggia di Psiche".


The story has it that the decoration of such room was appointed to Raffaello Sanzio, and that Michelangelo was terribly curious to see what kind of work his "rival" was carrying out, but Raffaello set up a strong security in order not to let anyone "spy" on his work. Nevertheless, Michelangelo tried really hard, and finally managed to sneak in. 


In order to show Raffaello he managed to outsmart the security he set up, he drew, using a piece of charcoal, a young man's head in one of the blank spaces in the fresco, in the unmistakable Michelangelo's style. The following  morning, Raffaello was enraged to see his arch rival managed to see his artwork before its completion, but his anger lasted for really short time, because the Tuscan great artist's drawing was so beautiful that Raffaello didn't have the heart to have it deleted, and the drawing is still there, and can be admired at the beginning of the visit of Villa Farnesina.