Bernini, Four Rivers Fountain, 1651

Bernini fell out of the church's favor at about the same time as Innocent X's ascension to the papacy in 1644. When a contest was held to design a fountain for the Piazza Navona, Bernini wasn't invited - but a friend snuck his design in for the Pope to see and Bernini ended up the winner. Innocent X wanted to incorporate into the design an Egyptian obelisk, originally taken from a pagan temple to Isis. Bernini's design elevated the obelisk over the main fountain with a hollow space below, so that viewers could look through and see the other side. The effect is of weightlessness and the towering stone pillar hovering in midair. A dove holding an olive branch perches at the very top, a symbol of the Holy Spirit and also of the Pope's family. Around the obelisk are four personified rivers in white travertine marble, each representing the four major continents as they were thought of at the time. Bernini himself was disappointed by the fountain's over-the-top theatrical aspects later in life, but it does stand as one of his greatest achievements.

The Ganges, representing Asia, holds an oar to show its navigability. For Europe, the Danube touches the Pope's personal coat of arms. (Those two are shown in the picture above; the Ganges is reclining facing the camera, and the Danube is turned away.) The Nile's head is covered, representing an ancient uncertainty about its source. Finally, for the Americas and the vast wealth they held, the Rio de la Platta sits on a pile of coins. None of these four were executed by Bernini himself; they are the work of his assistants under his direction. The elements traditionally attributed to Bernini personally are the underlying rock itself, the palm tree, the lion, and the horse. In contrast with the solidity of the obelisk overhead, the statues seem to move and flow, encouraging viewers to walk around the fountain to view the whole.

The obelisk stands as a connection between Earth and Heaven as well as a representation of the Church's domination of paganism, a former Egyptian relic standing in Rome under the dominion of the Pope. Continuing the propagandistic vein, the four major continents are unified in the shadow of this powerful symbol, a holy ray of light shining over the world. The Rio de la Platta shies away from the towering monument, while the Ganges and the Nile look off into the distance indifferently, showing the attitudes of their respective continents towards the church. The statue as a whole is a testament to Pope Innocent's power and dominion, and went a long way to bring Bernini back into his favor.