So all of this research is great history, but the real question is who was the Porter to be? Unfortunately there is no concrete answer. Tradition states the figure is a 16th century porter who “crowned in the common gutters, past master at tying up packages and carrying them on his shoulders, who moved as much stuff as he wanted, lived as much as he could, and died, without wishing to, whilst carrying one barrel of wine in and another out". This being said by Andrea Belli, who apparently heard it from an Abbot. Belli also made commentary about the porters “empowerments “, meaning “being grabbed by two porters of superior rank or, as used to be said, by the local bosses, who crowned him with Beet or Pellitory and a few mocking songs before throwing him violently, butt-end first, onto the street; and the ceremony ended up, as is all too easy to imagine, with everyone tanking themselves up with wine in the nearest tavern". Basically a ridiculous story created to give legend to the fountain. This is could be further torn apart because porters were not their own corporation, especially when the statue was created. In 1872 an article was published about the Porter fountain, creating a brief history as well as the tales associated with the fountain. The sources were not revealed, but the idea was the fountain was based on a porter who would get water for the Trevi fountain, before it was the splendid fountain of today, and take to the nearby houses in the morning so the people did not have to draw water themselves, earning a small sum each time. After awhile he had obtained enough money to build a house at the corner of the Via Lata, and he had the fountain created to show people that they could copy his actions and amass a small fortune themselves. This story is just as likely as any other, as there is no reason why a Pope would have this little fountain made.
