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Was the Fountain Originally Started Under Clement VIII?
In two manuscripts dated 1594 and 1603 respectively, Clement VIII (Aldobrandini) granted the Lateran chapter first six and then five ounces of Aqua Felice. Although I have been unable to trace the originals, it is almost certain that the gift was made on condition that, as was customary, the chapter should build a public fountain at its own expense (as mentioned by Panciroli). Unfortunately, the very fact that it was constructed for a private organization means that it would be extremely difficult to find the documents relating to the architects or origins of such a fountain.
There are, however, two items that show that this fountain was at least started under Clement VIII (1592-1605). One is a document recording the purchase by a private citizen on April 3, 1604 of a certain quantity of water from the conduit and fountain at St. John Lateran. The other is the fountain itself, which bears the stars and embattled device of the Aldobrandini, the family to which Pope Clement VIII belonged. To commemorate the gift of water, the canons had this coat-of-arms carved along the full length of the listel below the ovuli (the ledge below the egg-shaped moldings) above the fountain.
Leo XI (Medici) who succeeded Clement VIII, reigned for only 27 days (April 1st to 27th, 1605) but he found time to take an interest in this fountain and added the two fleurs-de-lys (a reference to his own coat-of-arms), one on each side of the statue of St. John. Finally, Paul V put the finished touches in 1607 with the carvings of his own heraldic emblems (the dragons), which are so big that they take up all the decorative space available in this small fountain.
In conclusion, I would just like to say a few words about the vanished statue of St. John the Evangelist. It was probably Leo XI who had it set on top of the pediment and, for once, the "lovers of all things Roman" are no doubt right when, with Alberto Cassio, they attribute it to the same person who sculpted the four young men on the Tortoise Fountain: Taddeo Landini. In fact, whereas the Saint John that used to be on this fountain was a seated marble figure and no one knows what happened to it, Master Taddeo's saint was made of bronze, stood upright, and was placed in the nearby St. John's Baptistery, where it remains to this day.
