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This well-preserved figure is from the damaged Fonte Gaia, the Sienese fountain commissioned for the sloping, fanshaped Piazza del Campo on the site of a trecento fountain. Two drawings preserve some of its original features which were altered during its execution between 1414-19. In the 19th century, a replacement was installed and the dismembered pieces moved.
The large fountain included allusions to the city's Roman history and Christian virtues, culminating in the central Madonna and Child. While most of the sculpture was in relief, two freestanding figures formed part of the Roman iconography: Acca Larentia, the goatherd's wife who cared for the young Romulus and Remus, and Rhea Silvia, their mother.
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