Aqua Paola Fountain

Aqua Paola Fountain and Pope’s power. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Popes exploited their position to build monuments that would display their own nobility. Until the end of the 16th century there was only one working source of clean drinking water in Rome. In 1585 Pope Sixtus V requested to restore the aqueduct in the Quirinale District of Rome, the previous Aqua Alexandriana, which he then renamed Fontana dell’Acqua Felice (Aqua Felice) after himself, Felice Perretti. The main theme of the fountain was religion, beside the intention of honouring the Pope. In 1612 Pope Paul V in respond of Pope Sixtus V’s Aqua Felice fountain, restored the aqueduct in the Janiculum hill. Pope Paul V felt the need to compete with his predecessors, who realized

In order to gather money for the project Pope Paul V imposed tax on wine to buy the right to use a spring close to Lake Bracciano as a primary source of water. The water wasn’t that clean, the wine was still more drinkable and safer and when the source of the fountain became the Lake Bracciano itself in 1672, the water’s quality decreased even more. In fact the fountain wasn’t then used as a source of drinking water but rather used for other purposes like irrigation, industry and fountain use. So the real intention behind the realization of the fountain was clearly, for Pope Paul V, to valorise himself and his lineage, the Borghese’s family. Architect Giovanni Fontana designed the fountain in 1612, while his brother, Domenico Fontana, designed Aqua Felice fountain in 1585-1888. Aqua Paola fountain is constructed of five arches for the arrival of the water in fact its main theme is water. In order to praise the Borghese family and the Pope, Fontana built statues of a papal tiara, keys and angels, on the top of the fountain, and eagles and dragons that are the symbols of Borghese family. Moreover the inscription, written in Latin, that stands out right away to the observer, praise the Pope for bringing water to the citizens of the Janiculum hill. Years later in 1690 the fountain was redesigned, and a semi-circular pool for the water was added in front of fountain, but

Pope Sixtus V followed the example of his predecessor in the construction of work of arts, including Aqua Felice fountain, and then even for other purposes, Pope Paul V did the same. By the end of 16th century the Popes’ power increased by becoming secular rulers as the formation of the Papal State turned into a centralized power. So the Pope became one of Italy’s most important secular rulers, which could be considered a hegemonic power. According to Italian Marxist theoretician and politician, Antonio Gramsci, the control of ideas is as powerful as the use of physical force. The ability to regulate beliefs within a society is what hegemony is about, and it reinforce inequality and “short-circuit attempts at critical thinking” (Smith, 39). He made an important reinterpretation to the concept of ideology, with the ‘hegemony’. He made a distinction between coercion and consent power, which are alternative mechanism for social power. Coercion is the State capacity for violence, the way to control people who don’t collaborate by force. Consent instead, refers to a form of social power in which people behave according to voluntarism and participation, which is the hegemonic power. As sociologist Mark Stoddart described in his