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A quite well known expert on Roman Fountains once made the following comment about this fountain: "Like the traditional frivolous confections eaten at Easter and other strange subjects, the little fountain known as The Porter in Via Lata is, one of the earliest controversies that writers who love Rome get involved in". In fact, considering the relatively insignificant size of this fountain, very few of Rome's fountains have had so much written, re-written and, especially, erroneously written about them as the "scowling little Porter". So, since I don't just want to hand out the usual "confection" and because the enormous number of stories regarding this fountain demands it, I will choose a few of the most important - at least some of those I consider to be stories rather than pure anecdote. And then, of course, I will conclude with my own opinion on this fountain (or confection, if you prefer). The first information about this fountain comes from Cavalier Marino, a poet who, though now forgotten, was quite celebrated in his day. In 1620, he dedicated a rhyme to the "Porter Fountain in Rome", which may give us some clue to its original and, perhaps, kindly and lively face ("pleasing eyelashes"... "so alive that you look like us"). The earliest illustration of the Porter fountain, found in Parasacchi's rather poor quality album on Rome's fountains (1637), tends to confirm these features.
Account of the Porter Fountain by Theodor Sprenger
This is followed by the interesting account of Theodor Sprenger, a German, who wrote the following in his Guide to Rome (which may have been published before 1654): "Pasquino has two rivals; one is the Porter in Via Lata, the other is the one known as Marforio on the Capitoline Hill... [The Romans] use Pasquino to attack the nobles, Marforio the middle classes and the Porter the common people". The mention of Via Lata Porter's Fountain in Sprenger's passage on the Porter's similarity to Pasquino (they were both "talking" statues) needs clarification: the Via Lata in question is not today's very short street of the same name that joins the Corso to the Piazza del Collegio Romano, but what is now the Corso itself. The first evidence of this appears in a plan of the area dated 1661 showing that all the buildings (now incorporated into the block housing the Bank of Rome) were called The Porter's 'Island' and Via Lata is shown at the back of the same building as at present, but at the corner with the Corso. Following the drawing of the fountain by Parasacchi (1637), we have two views of Via Lata, both from 1665, which show the fountain fairly clearly: one is by Falda, the other by the Dutchman L. Cruyl.
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