I have such a short fuse lately when it comes to the news. I think about blogging about things (the latest being Alabama’s disgusting, cruel new immigration law, which is just one of numerous disgusting immigration laws in place all over the world today), then realize it’s going to be a huge energy suck because of how angry I am… and I need to save my energy for my work. (Which is always at least indirectly about the news anyway.)

So this is going to be another post of Rome pictures. The last post of Rome pictures — and by the way, if you’re new to my blog, I assure you that I hardly ever post as many pictures as I’ve been posting. Really, you’re all the victims of my fascinating new phone. I’ve never wanted to take pictures before, ever in my life, until I got this phone…

So. I adore the work of sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680, Italy). It’s one of the reasons Rome is one of my favorite cities – it’s full of his sculptures. You can see them in museums; you can see them on the street. One of his sculptures, Apollo and Daphne, inspired one aspect of Bitterblue, which I’m sure I’ll be talking about more on this blog at some point (I have lots to say about Bitterblue, but there’s not much point in saying it until more people have it in their hands and have read it). In this post, I want to share some images of Bernini’s famous fountain, Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (“The Fountain of Four Rivers”), which sits in Rome’s Piazza Navona.

Look at how perfect he is. Look at his feet and hands.

It’s a statue with many emerging forms. Can you see the horse?

This man is my favorite.

Here’s another angle. Takes my breath away. Can you see the emerging alligator-type-thing?

Horse again

Emerging lion

On my last night, I went to Piazza Navona to see the fountain. My memory was working in its typical way – I remembered that I loved the fountain, but I didn’t remember anything else about it, including what exactly it was about or even that Bernini had been the one to design it. The sight of it took my breath away. I thought in my head, “Wow, good as a Bernini.” But still, I didn’t remember that it was a Bernini – until I got back to the hotel and looked it up online. I was not particularly surprised.

To see a picture of the fountain entire, learn where I got my subject heading, and read about what all the figures in the fountain mean, go to the fountain’s Wikipedia page. And if you’re ever in Rome and want to see more Bernini, by all means, go to the Galleria Borghese.