Lions Club fund restoration of artists' fountain on Via Margutta.

The Fontana degli Artisti on Via Margutta has been restored following a €10,000 cleaning programme funded by the Lions Club Roma Aurelium.

The marble fountain, which was built in 1927, has had its limescale deposits removed, its masonry repointed and water pipes repaired.

Designed by Roman architect Pietro Lombardi, the fountain features symbols associated with artists, with whom Via Margutta has been linked since the 17th century.

The triangular base of the fountain supports two artists' easels on which rest two grotesque masks, one sad, the other happy – symbolising the alternating moods of artists – and crowned with a bucket of paint-brushes.

There is still a strong artistic presence on Via Margutta, which hosts the annual 100 painters event, while the fountain's designer Lombardi, who died in 1984, is better remembered for the Fontana delle Anfore in Piazza Testaccio.

Photo ANSA