The Trevi Fountain in Rome, immortalised in Federico Fellini’s 1960 film La Dolce Vita, will soon be back in business as an 18-month restoration draws to a close. Tourists applauded Thursday, 29 October, as water refilled the Baroque basin designed by the 18th-century sculptor and architect Nicola Salvi. The fountain was drained dry last June to allow conservators to work on a €2.2m project led by the city’s culture authorities but entirely financed by the Italian luxury brand Fendi. An inauguration ceremony is due to take place on 3 November.
Appropriately for one of Rome’s most photogenic monuments, visitors were invited to observe much of the restoration from a suspended Plexiglas walkway. It was dismantled this summer when restorers moved from cleaning the façade to the group of allegorical sculptures below and to re-waterproofing the basin. The repairs are the most comprehensive in more than two decades.
Fendi also sponsored the restoration of the Quattro Fontane, a group of four 17th-century fountains near the Quirinal Palace, as part of its Fendi for Fountains campaign, launched in January 2013. The €320,000 project was completed in March.
