In December 1408 Jacopo, having returned to Siena, signed a contract to build a new fountain in the Piazza del Campo, the central space of the city: the prestigious commission indicates that he was recognized as Siena's leading sculptor. The Fonte Gaia (Santa Maria della Scala, Siena; the version in the Piazza del Campo is a copy) took its name ('fountain of joy') from the festivity that greeted the arrival of water when it was first brought to this hilltop site in the mid-14th century.

The Fonte Gaia was dedicated to the Virgin, traditional protectress of the city, and its iconography was intended to harmonize with and expand on the themes of good government found in the 14th-century frescoes in the Palazzo Pubblico opposite. The contract was modified in January 1409 to specify a greater number of figures and an increased payment.

Preview	Picture Data	Info
	Fonte Gaia 1408-19 Marble Piazza del Campo, Siena
	Fonte Gaia 1408-19 Marble Piazza del Campo, Siena
	Fonte Gaia 1408-19 Marble Piazza del Campo, Siena
	Fonte Gaia 1408-19 Marble Piazza del Campo, Siena
	Design for the Fonte Gaia (fragment) c. 1415 Pen and ink on vellum, 153 x 228 mm Victoria and Albert Museum, London
	Design for the Fonte Gaia (fragment) 1415-16 Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash on vellum, glued onto secondary paper, 201 x 214 mm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
	Acca Larentia 1414-19 Marble, height 162 cm Santa Maria della Scala, Siena
	Acca Larentia 1414-19 Marble, height 162 cm Santa Maria della Scala, Siena
	Acca Larentia 1414-19 Marble, height 162 cm Palazzo Pubblico, Siena
	Rea Silvia 1414-19 Marble, height 162 cm Santa Maria della Scala, Siena
	Rea Silvia 1414-19 Marble, height 162 cm Santa Maria della Scala, Siena
	Virgin and Child 1414-19 Marble Santa Maria della Scala, Siena
	Creation of Adam 1414-19 Marble Santa Maria della Scala, Siena
	Expulsion from Paradise 1414-19 Marble Santa Maria della Scala, Siena
	Wisdom 1414-19 Marble Santa Maria della Scala, Siena
	Faith 1414-19 Marble Santa Maria della Scala, Siena
	Justice 1414-19 Marble Santa Maria della Scala, Siena
	Prudence 1414-19 Marble Santa Maria della Scala, Siena
	Temperance 1414-19 Marble Santa Maria della Scala, Siena