Library Notes
July 17, 2004
By Pansy Hundley, Librarian.
The Coliseum Committee has not called me yet to ask my opinion about ripping up highways and making a nice, green, open space around their coliseum. But I’m still waiting. One of our recent thunderstorms, with accompanying, vicious, lightning, did a complete job on my telephone/answering machine. I have now purchased a brand-new one, so they’ll be able to reach me with no trouble.
While I wait on the Committee, and, no, I’m not holding my breath, what shall we visit in Rome this week? How about the Trevi Fountain? Yeah!
This fountain is not some little ‘ole stream of water, dammed up, with a cupid or two sitting around it. No- siree- Bob! This fountain could live in Texas with no problem, it is so huge and unique.
Legend has it that a foreigner can toss a coin into the fountain that will ensure his return to Rome. Trisha sent a penny for herself and one for Bob Poole, for me to toss into the fountain, which I did.
This is also the fountain that was shown in the movie "Three Coins in the Fountain".
For a description of this Texas-size fountain, let’s go to my "Rome" book, to read about it in fancier language than my Texas terminology can afford. Yes, you’re welcome!
To start with, this fountain is located off the Corso, Via delle Muratte and it is the most sumptuous fountain in Rome. Now that you know exactly where it is, let us proceed.
"Set against a large building, the fountain is decorated with bas-reliefs and statues which stand upon mighty rocks from which the water gushes. Spurts and roars animate the impressive scene.
It was Agrippa who brought the Acqua Vergine to Rome in the lst century B.C., by way of an aqueduct. The fountain was built by Nicola Saslvi (1735) under Pope Clement XII, and was decorated by several followers of Bernini. It is said that the soldiers of Agrippa were in the countryside, looking for water near the Via Collatina, when they came upon a maiden who showed them the source of this pure water; it was from then on called the Acqua Vergine (Virgin water). The bas-relief on the right side of the façade represents this event, the relief on the left shows Agrippa explaining the plan for the aqueduct to Augustus. At the center, the statue of the Ocean God stands on a shelled-shaped chariot pulled by winged horses. In 1991 important restoration work was done which returned the fountain to its original splendor.
Now, what did I tell you? Can’t you just hear me trying to say "Off the Corso, Via delle Muratte" with my Texas accent?
So, now if any one should ask you about the Trevi Fountain in Rome, you can expostulate to your heart’s content and really be impressive. And, now that you can describe this fountain in minute detail, let us go on to the next order of business: a book. This week, let’s look at a book by a lady that you may not have read before, Susan Bowden. Well, now is the perfect time, with this one entitled "Forget Me Not."
"What terrible secrets are hidden in Lisa Cooper’s torrent of dreams? For years, the 31-year-old artist has been plagued by the same inexplicable fears. Fears that have stolen her nights since she was a little girl. Fears that have intensified since her adoptive mother’s death. Fears that have left her with only one resolve – to confront a past that has been forever veiled in mystery. But as soon as Lisa arrives in the quaint English Village of Charnwood, her childhood home, she is befriended by a handsome stranger, welcomed by distant relatives – and shadowed by suspicion. And as her dark family history comes to light, Lisa discovers that someone will stop at nothing to prevent her from remembering the shattering truth."