060608

The fountain was originally located in Piazza Montanara near the Teatro di Marcello. When this square disappeared due to the opening of the Via del Mare (today Via Petroselli) it was moved in 1932 to the Giardino degli Aranci on the Aventine Hill and then moved once again to the Piazzetta di San Simeone ai Coronari in 1973. Designed by Giacomo della Porta and built by Pietro Gucci it was of linear simplicity with an upper cup and a lower basin. In the course of the years the monument suffered various transformations. A cup on a shaped column resting on a cube decorated with four masks was added in 1696, probably by Carlo Fontana. At this time also the insignia of pope Innocent the Twelfth Pignatelli (1691-1700) and of another family were affixed to the shaft. In 1829 the fountain suffered further changes: the lower pond was replaced with the current one with the emblems of the Conservatori and of the Priore dei Caporioni (Prior of the District Leaders) in office sculpted on its edges. Instead the upper part remained the same, although two emblems next to the central shaft were removed.