Fontana delle Api private citizens. In the year 1644, XXI of his pontificate." The "public ornamentation" referred to in the inscription is the Fontana del Tritone ("Triton Fountain"), which Bernini had completed the year before. Fontana delle Api Fontana delle Api ("Fountain of the Bees") is a fountain located in the Piazza Barberini in Rome where the Via Veneto enters the piazza. It was sculpted by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and completed in April 1644. "Fontana delle Api" consists of a marble bi-valve shell with three bees of the same material resting on it. The fountain was intended to be a watering trough for
Piazza Colonna of the Italian government. The east side is taken up by the 19th century public shopping arcade Galleria Colonna (since 2003 Galleria Alberto Sordi), the south side is taken up by the flank of Palazzo Ferrajoli, formerly the Papal post office, and the little Church of Santi Bartolomeo ed Alessandro dei Bergamaschi (1731-35). The west side is taken up by Palazzo Wedekind (1838) with a colonnade of Roman columns taken from Veii. The piazza has been a monumental open space since Antiquity; the temple of Marcus Aurelius stood on the site of Palazzo Wedekind (TCI). The fountain in the piazza