The fountain of the Goddess Roma, inserted at the base of the access staircase leading to Palazzo Senatorio, designed by Michelangelo, was part of the interventions promoted during the pontificate of Sixtus V Peretti (1585-1590), together with the construction of the Felice aqueduct, which brought running water to the Capitoline Hill. 
 

Inside the niche, in 1593, was placed a 2.10 m high seated statue of Minerva, which had probably been found in Cori a few years earlier and belonged to a Capitoline Triad dating back to the 1st century AD.

The two colossal statues placed on either side of Minerva, dating from 1517 and coming from the Baths of Constantine, were placed in their present position in the square by Michelangelo in 1543. The two statues represent the personifications of the Nile and the Tigris, then transformed into the Tiber with the addition of the Wolf and the Twins. The central statue is placed on a base with an inscription commemorating its repositioning and purchase by the Capitoline Chamber in 1591. Subsequent restorations have transformed it into a triumphant Goddess Roma, adopting the iconography of Minerva, with an ancient helmeted head of Hadrian's age, her right arm raised to hold a rod and her left arm extended with her hand to support a globe. 

In 1994 the fountain underwent an important restoration, as part of the more general restoration of Piazza del Campidoglio, Palazzo Nuovo and Palazzo dei Conservatori. The continuous exposure to atmospheric agents, which has led to the accumulation of deposits, biological patinas and limestone concretions, has required a new conservative restoration, under the technical direction of the Capitoline Superintendence. In addition to the statue of the Goddess Roma and the basins of the fountain, the intervention was also carried out on the architectural façade and on the surrounding sampietrini pavement.
The stone surfaces were cleaned, consolidated and the plastering replaced, while the water flow was restored thanks to the overhaul of the system, the new waterproofing of the basins and the re-functioning of the fountain's drainage system.
Finally, the artistic lighting system of the basins was renovated with the installation of state-of-the-art LED lamps.