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Let me return to the various alterations made to the fountain. The present inscription was put up at the beginning of the 17th century below the long inscription (see translation above) and in place of the original one dating from the third year of the pontificate of Julius III (1553). The new plaque, with its enormous letters, was erected by "Filippo Colonna, Duke of Paliano, high official at the court of the King of Naples" (1578 - 1639), who was probably also responsible for replacing the " large and beautiful ancient head of Apollo" with the arrangement that exists today, "embellished" by the Colonna standard and coat-of-arms and the head of an old man spouting out the water; instead of offering a drink, the dolphins on each side look menacing and seem to scowl at anyone who dares to approach in order to quench their thirst.
As I take one last look at this fountain I honestly don’t know if you will agree with that enthusiastic 15th century author who wrote, " I will not tell you of the merits of this fountain, because its fame has already spread to the furthest corners of the earth".
On the opposite corner of the street, very close to Pope Julius’s fountain, there is a quite modest and very ugly little wall fountain, a real "horse trough". This low, rectangular sink, guarded by two little columns joined by a cross piece, is made of dull grey granite; the water falls from an imitation shell-shaped basin and from two more half shells carved into the upper part. Above it is a Latin inscription with a glaring error that has been making a bad impression there for who knows how many years – and still no one has made the effort to correct it. The inscription reads: "Federico Cardinal Borromeo restored this water for public use in the year 1672".
Apart from the error just mentioned, the only special interest attached to this fountain – which unfortunately replaced quite a nice ornamental group that used to stand on this corner (fig. 12) – arises from the fact that the trough was originally part of the Babuino fountain, named for the famous street that runs from Piazza del Popolo to Piazza di Spagna. The Babuino fountain was probably built at the time of Pope Gregory XIII (1572 - 85) and when the street had to be remade at the end of the nineteenth century the trough was brought here and, instead of finding a worthy home elsewhere, like so many other lovely things from the Ancient Roman period, the famous "talking" statue known as the "Babuino" [baboon] was relegated, only to end its days in a courtyard of the premises at 51 Via del Babuino.
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