Via Margutta, a quiet lane between the Spanish Steps and Piazza del Popolo, has been Rome's artists' street since the 17th century. Its studios, galleries and courtyards are still full of painters and craftsmen.
The fountain
The Fontana degli Artisti was carved in marble in 1927 by the architect Pietro Lombardi, who designed a series of small neighbourhood fountains around Rome, each themed on the local rione (district) or its traditional trade. Here the theme is art:
- a bucket full of paintbrushes crowns the top,
- two easels with a set of compasses frame the sides,
- and two masks, one smiling and one sad, stand for the famously changeable moods of artists.
Water trickles from the masks into small basins. It's easy to walk past, which is part of its charm.
Via Margutta and the movies
- In Roman Holiday (1953), Gregory Peck's character lives at Via Margutta 51, where Audrey Hepburn's princess wakes up.
- The film director Federico Fellini lived at Via Margutta 110 with Giulietta Masina.
- Look out for the street's art fairs and open studios, and the green courtyards glimpsed through open doors.
Make a walk of it
Combine Via Margutta with the Babuino fountain one street over, Piazza del Popolo at the northern end, and the climb up to the Pincio terrace and Villa Borghese.
Quick answers
Where is the Fountain of the Arts in Rome?
On Via Margutta (no. 53b), the artists' street between Piazza di Spagna and Piazza del Popolo.