Fountain of the Naiads, Public fountain in Piazza della Repubblica, Rome, Italy

The Fountain of the Naiads stands in the centre of Piazza della Repubblica, Rome. It has a wide, low stone basin on a tiered light grey base, with a tall central jet. Four bronze nudes by Mario Rutelli, the Naiads, recline in semicircular basins on the straight sides of an octagonal base, each with a water creature; at the centre, Rutelli's Glaucus grasps a dolphin.

Pope Pius IX had the Aqua Marcia aqueduct restored between 1865 and 1870 and inaugurated a first fountain on 10 September 1870, ten days before the breach of Porta Pia. The present fountain was built from 1885 to Alessandro Guerrieri's design; Mario Rutelli was commissioned in 1897 to make the bronze Naiads, unveiled in 1901. His central group was replaced in 1912 by the Glaucus figure, and the completed fountain was inaugurated again in 1914.

The four naiads, made by Mario Rutelli, stand for kinds of water: the swan for lakes, the water snake for rivers, the dragon for underground waters and the sea horse for the oceans. Their sensual poses drew protests from L'Osservatore Romano before the 1901 inauguration, and Romans tore down the wooden fence hiding them.

The fountain is located in a large public square that is freely accessible during daylight hours. Plenty of space surrounds the structure, making it easy to view and move around the site.

The first central group, three tritons wrestling a dolphin and an octopus, was mocked by Romans as "il fritto misto di Termini" and soon removed. Mario Rutelli's replacement, the nude Glaucus grasping a dolphin, was installed in 1912 and inaugurated with the finished fountain in 1914.