Mrs. Charles MacVeagh

“ The mystery surrounding the purpose and construction of those huge vessels is yet unsolved, but in the seventeenth century it still stirred men's imaginations with all the force of fresh discovery. Both Maderno and Pietro Bernini could not have been ignorant of it, and they must have seen the exquisite bronzes and lead pipes bearing the stamp of the Emperor Tiberius which had been detached and brought up from the sunken vessels. The Barcaccia fountain is the last work of Pietro Bernini, the father of Lorenzo. ”

“ AT the foot of the great stone stairway, known in Italian as La Scalinata and in English as the Spanish Steps, which leads down from the Church of the Trinita de' Monti, to the Piazza di Spagna lies the singular fountain called La Barcaccia. The design of this fountain is that of a quaintly conventionalized boat, fast sinking under the water which is pouring into it. To this effect it owes its name; for "barca," being the Italian for boat, and "accia" a termination of opprobrium, Barcaccia means a worthless boat. ”

“ At the accession of Urban VIII, Spain and Austria held the passes of the Alps, thus dominating Europe and threatening the existence of the Papal States. At the close of his pontificate, France was rapidly becoming the first Continental power, and the Papal States had reached their utmost limit of territorial expansion. With his death the French influence in papal politics rapidly declined, but its artistic ascendency still lingered on. ”