Trevi Fountain
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THE TREVI FOUNTAIN, THE LEGEND OF THE BARBER

The Trevi Fountain hides a secret only locals know.
According to a legend, during the construction of the Fountain, a barber who had the shop right in front of the building site did nothing but criticize and deride the project. Poor Nicola Salvi, the architect in charge of the works, had to endure daily the complaints and negative remarks of the barber, who always found something to complain about. Therefore Salvi decided to “revenge” in an original way, exasperated by the continuous criticism. In a prominent position near the barbershop, he added a decorative element like a vase to the Fountain, something very similar to the ace of cups of playing cards.
This element, which is a bit different from the rest of the decoration, would have been inserted just to joke with the barber and “obstruct his view” of the Fountain. In this way, the barber could no longer see the work as a whole and continue to criticize it. Of course, this is only a legend and no hard evidence supports this story. However, the presence of this particular component continues to intrigue visitors and make art scholars talk about it.

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