The Fountain of the Artists (Fontana degli Artisti) is located in the Via Margutta in Rome, about halfway between the Spanish Steps and the Piazza del Popolo.
Fountain of the Artists Rome
The fountain is the result of a project created by the architect Pietro Lombardi and was built in 1927.
The base of the fountain is triangular and holds two painters’ easels. On these easels two grotesque masks are sculpted, one with a happy and one with a sad face, symbolizing the alternating moods – and success – thought to be typical of the artist’s life.
The fountain is part of a larger project in which the various rioni of Rome each got their own fountain with a design referring to the typical occupation of the inhabitants of that district. The Via Margutta and its immediate surroundings was, and had been since the 17th century, a popular hangout for artists and intellectuals.