Born in the stone-working town Settignano and trained by the great architect Antonio da Sangallo (the younger), Simone Mosca worked with leading artists as a sculptor of architectural ornament. This fountain was carved along with a chimneypiece for the Palazzo Fossombroni in Arezzo, of a favored local stone, pietra serena. It vacillates delightfully between architecture and sculpture, striking a balance among the bases, columns, and entablature, on one hand, and the masks, scallops, and vegetal motifs on the other. In these same years, Mosca executed decoration for Michelangelo in the Medici Chapel; the subtle push and pull of surfaces across the fountain show Mosca's grasp of Michelangelo's intentions.