The Fountain of the Shells

The fountain was erected to adorn the gardens of the Palacio del Infante don Luis, located in Boadilla del Monte (Madrid), where Infante Luis Antonio de Bourbon and Farnese, son of Philip V and brother of Charles III, lived during the last third of the 18th century.

The design of both the building and the landscaped complex, including its various ornamental elements, was commissioned by the Infante to Ventura Rodríguez, who completed the work in 1765. Rodríguez is credited with the design of the fountain, while its execution was carried out by the sculptors Felipe de Castro and Manuel Álvarez the Greek, with the latter finishing it in 1776.

The fountain was located on the south side of the aforementioned palace until the early 19th century, when the Infante's heirs, the Dukes of San Fernando de Quiroga, decided to gift it to Fernando VII and his wife María Cristina. It was then installed in the Royal estate of Vista Alegre.

In 1845, the architect Narciso Pascual y Colomer decided to place it in its current location, along with the Fountain of the Tritons (originally from the garden of the Isla de Aranjuez), as part of his project for the Campo del Moro.

The Fountain of Shells is carved in white Macael marble. It consists of four main parts, arranged vertically in the shape of a fruit bowl.

The lowest part, the widest of all, incorporates a circular basin, inside of which rest the sculptures of three young tritons. Each one holds a shell, a motif that is also present in the next part and ultimately gives the entire ensemble its name.

In the central part of the basin rests a circular base, upon which a sculptural group of three elderly tritons rises. Their tails (which take the form of a dolphin's head at the end) direct water to different shells, and from these shells, back to the basin. This is the second distinguished part.

The three elderly tritons support a cup, on which the penultimate of the marked parts rests. Here appear three nymphs, crowned by a new cup, smaller than the previously mentioned one.

Atop this last cup sits the sculpture of a child embracing a dolphin, from which a jet of water springs, completing the ensemble. This is the last of the distinct parts.