Rome is known for its fountains—and its drinking water. The fountains I’ve always liked seem always to have theatrical masks in them somewhere.

The picture on the left is one I took in December in Rome. At night.

If you think about the last time you were in Rome hanging around the Pantheon in the Piazza della Rotonda, perhaps with a can of beer conceeled in a paper sack as is all the rage, you might not have associated theatrical masks with this fountain, especially if the beer has begun to course through your veins and the guy with fat lips and the monkey grafted to the back of his empty skull starts to look like a friend from high school…

In any case, click the picture to see it larger.

This particular fountain was built around 1577. The masks in this fountain look like they were inspired by similar ones by Michelangelo, according to Garden-Fountains.com, who have some nice articles on The Fountains of Italy and Rome.

My other favorite mask fountain? The Fontana del Mascherone di Via Giulia financed by the Farnese. Odd. Entrancing. And the via Giulia is kinda nice, too.

I’ve been having an interesting discussion over on Twitter via my @newsfromitaly persona.  The question I posed was ‘Who’s your Italian of the Decade? Someone who has raised Italy’s image positively throughout the world.’

Those who have been mulling this question over, Italians and non-Italians, have come up with an interesting list.

Here are the names, with links to Wikipedia entries, so far.

• Roberto Saviano,

• Valentino Rossi,

• Carlo Azeglio Ciampi,

• Luciano Paverotti,

• Guido Bertolaso, – Wikipedia entry in Italian

• Enzo Biagi,

• Mike Bongiorno,

• Rita Levi-Montalcini,

• Beppe Grillo

• Gino Strada

Do you know who these Italian are?  I’m not convinced that those not familiar with Italy will know them all.

One of the people on the list is my own choice, but I’m having second thoughts.

Any other nominations more than welcome.

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