When Giuseppe Valadier undertook the reconstruction of the square over 150 years ago, his original intent was to leave the fountain and obelisk intact as they were. However, in 1823, he changed his mind to the design we see present today. He changed the design, setting the obelisk in the center of the base of the fountain that had five steps and circular basins at each corner. Each basin has a pyramid of seven steps, and on top sits a marble lion where water pours through his mouth creating a veil of water. When making this scheme, it seems that Valadier had to have been aware of the drawings that Fontana made during the time of Sixtus V, before the obelisk was even erected. He could have found his inspiration from an excerpt in a manuscript called Avvisis di Roma, a collection of noted written by authors close to city authorities. The passage we refer to was dated Spetember 28, 1588 and states, "Then His Beatitude [Sixtus V] arrived and gave orders to build the street planned to run from shortly before Trinity Church to the said square [i.e. Via del Babuino], in which His Holiness ordered the raising of the said spire above four lions, that would spurt out water and serve in place of the fountain that his predecessor had erected in the said square, [the spire] to be surrounded with the marble blocks already present and using all possible beauty and artistic skill". This shows that Valadier at the very least made good use of the original plans.
Remains:
The last two fountains to discuss are also by Valadier, and they close off the sides of the square. They were built at the same time as the central fountain. Both fountains have a wide semi-circular basin made of travertine stone. The fountains are placed against a wall, topped with a large shell, also made of travertine. Over the shell, there is a small basin that collects water that flows from a hole in the wall. There is a grouping of colossal statues above each fountain that were designed by Valadier as well. The first group, closest to the Tiber, is a gigantic figure of Neptune between two tritons. The second group, nearest to the Pincio, features the goddess of Rome, planted on sturdy legs between two large river gods. There is an imaginative wolf below, suckling two children. These two groupings are very heavy, but do offer some good points. To note, out of the six statues only two have no beard, one of the tritons and the goddess.
