060608

The fountain was built by order of the Pope Julius III (1550-1555), between 1552 and 1553, on the surrounding wall of the pope's extra-urban residence, on the corner of Via Flaminia and Via di Villa Giulia.
 
Inspired by the water exhibitions of the Roman era, the monumental wall fountain was fed by the Aquedotto Vergine, whose pipes ran through the pope's family property.
After the death of Julius III and a series of disputed inheritance events, the villa passed to Pius IV (1559-1565), who donated the part facing the Via Flaminia to his nephews Federico and Carlo Borromeo. The appearance of the fountain thus changed considerably: in 1561, based on a design by Pirro Ligorio, construction of the building above the fountain itself, known as the 'palazzina di Pio IV', began, and the statues on the crowning were probably removed. The coat of arms of the pope, supported by two winged victories, was inserted in the upper façade, together with the inscription with the name of Cardinal Carlo Borromeo, while in the columns and corner pilasters the Ionic order replaced the Corinthian one in the lower part; two rectangular windows, decorated in the upper part with festoons, volutes and a central coat of arms, took up the motif of the two niches of the order below. In 1566 Filippo Colonna replaced the original inscription of Julius III with an epigraph bearing his name, and in place of Apollo's head he placed on the basin the mask, the coat of arms and the two dolphins of the present composition. Finally, in 1750, Benedict XIV had his own coat of arms placed in the centre of the tympanum.