Some academics claim that as Carlo Fontana was an apprentice of the Bernini’s school he was actually inspired by Bernini’s work of the Fontana dei Fiumi in Piazza Navona, when he decided to create the rock effect of Lanuvio’s fountain.

However, Carlo Fontana was most probably inspired by a pagan myth handed down by Properzio and Eliano who describe the presence of a cavern where Juno’s sacred snake was kept. In fact, the Fontana degli Scogli was originally featured with two massive sculptured snakes on either side of the rock.