Fontana con lucerna

Panel 87 - Location

This fine marble fountain stood along the Decumanus in front of the long portico built in the Hadrianic period (AD 117-138) to monumentalize the street.

There was probably already a basin lined with hydraulic plaster on this spot from the Augustan period (late 1st century BC – early 1st century AD); the fountain was raised in the Hadrianic period to match the new street level and lined with marble in the 3rd century AD.

Panel 87 - Figure 1Elevations and section of the fountain
(E. Santucci)

The fountain took the form of a basin decorated with a screen and completely covered in marbles, with columns that may have supported a pergola.

At the centre of the basin was a little pillar whose top was shaped like an oil lamp from which water gushed forth.

Panel 87 - Figure 2Reconstruction of the fountain
(E. Santucci)
Panel 87 - Figure 3General view of the fountain

See also:

The Market District