Piazza Navona Rome, Italy

1647
Pope Innocent X (r. 1644-55) commissions a monumental fountain to support the ancient obelisk he moved from the Circus of Maxentius to the Piazza Navona. He excludes the well-known sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini from his request for designs, but Bernini cr
1648
Pope Innocent X grants the commission for the Fountain of the Four Rivers in the Piazza Navona to Gian Lorenzo Bernini, after being shown the artist's designs by Bernini's nephew.
1651
Fountain of the Four Rivers constructed