Fontana del Babuino – Babuino Fountain
Address – Via del Babuino, 49, 00187 Roma, Italy Il Babuino “The Baboon” is one of the talking statues of Rome, The fountain is situated beside the Chiesa di S. Atanasio dei Greci, in via del Babuino
The statue is an ancient depiction of a reclining Silenus: the drunken companion of Dionysus , half man, half goat.
History of the Fountain
In 1581,a rich merchant from Ferrara, Patrizio Grandi, built a public fountain in the former via Paolina, building it in the traditional style, which he had decorated with this statue of a reclining sylenus and a basin, both of Roman age. According to the custom established by Pope Pius IV Medici, The Pope, in turn, granted the affluence of water. thus obtaining free water for his house and fields in exchange for donating the fountain to the city.(Fountains of this kind, paid for by private citizens at the benefit of the public, were known as “semi-public” another Example: Fontana del Tritone by bernini.) The people of Rome christened the figure “babuino” because they were so impressed by it they called it the baboon, Looking like a monkey, even the name of the street itself was then nicknamed the road of the baboon and eventually changed from originally being called via Paolina Trifana (after pope Paul III) to Via Del Babuino.
Around 1730 the house changed owner, and the alterations that followed caused the fountain to be moved across the street, set in a niche shaped as a false doorway of the building. (below) 
Then, some 150 years later, the fountain was dismantled: the niche was turned into an actual doorway, the basin was used for another trough located off the city walls, while the popular Babuino was placed in the courtyard of the building, as a statue. Only in 1957 some roman citizens took initiative and asked to return it to its rightful place, so the municipality found a another rectangular basin that could suit the old sylenus, who was finally given back his original role, almost on the same spot where his story started.
Political comment and graffiti
Pasquinades — irreverent satirical inscriptions poking fun at public figures — were posted beside the “talking statues” of Rome in 
the 16th century. The pasquinades (or, in Italian, pasquinate) of il Babuino are more properly called babuinate, but the principle of satirical criticism is the same.
The tradition of political comment continued as graffiti in modern times, Probably due to the fact of being so …talkative, up to year 2000 the wall by which the fountain stands used to be covered with thousands of graffiti to the extent that the fountain was considered an eyesore rather than an asset to this upmarket street. As seen in the 2002 photograph, although not on il Babuino itself. Recently, the wall has been painted with an anti-vandal paint, to prevent the graffiti reappearing.
