The Fountain of the Sea-Horses

Rudolph Ruzicka American, born Czechoslovakia
Author Related author Fanny Davenport Rogers MacVeagh American
1914
Not on view
We here look at Bernini's fountain in the Villa Borghese gardens, with sea-horses rising into a lower basin just above ground level, below three graduated basins above. This is a proof of one of 43 wood engravings that Ruzicka made to illustrate "Fountains of Papal Rome," 1915; there the image appears on page 184. Other images of fountains in the gardens are the "Fountain of the Amorini" (MMA proof, 18.25.17), "Fountain with a Nymph" (MMA proof, 18.25.32) behind the Casino, and "Fountain before a statue of Esculapius" (MMA proof, 18.25.31).
Ruzicka went to Rome in 1913 with the manuscript of Mrs. Charles MacVeagh's "Fountains of Papal Rome" in hand as a guide. When published by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York in 1915 the book contained fourteen full-page images and twenty-nine page headings and vignettes. The artist later described the book as a "quite remarkable work...still the most authoritative book there is on the subject in the English language."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Fountain of the Sea-Horses
  • Series/Portfolio: Fountains of Papal Rome
  • Artist: Rudolph Ruzicka (American (born Czechoslovakia), Kourim, Bohemia 1883–1978 Hanover, New Hampshire)
  • Author: Related author Fanny Davenport Rogers MacVeagh (American, 1860–1948)
  • Date: 1914
  • Medium: Wood engraving, proof
  • Dimensions: Image: 5 3/8 × 3 1/2 in. (13.7 × 8.9 cm)
    Sheet: 9 1/16 × 6 5/8 in. (23 × 16.9 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of Rudolph Ruzicka, 1918
  • Object Number: 18.25.12
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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