Pope Paul V made do with putting up a fluted column (14.3m high) taken from the already meager remains of Constantine's basilica in the Forum since Sixtus V had already raised almost all the ancient obelisks that had been lying about all over Rome. So between 1613 and May of the following year, on top of the column, Paul V placed the statue of Her Most High Majesty the Queen of Heaven, inside a half-moon, with her Son Jesus Christ Our Lord in her arms. The statue was made in all gilded bronze. The architectural model had been made by the French sculptor Guillaume Berthelot. And Carlo Maderno was the person in charge of construction. Maderno at that time was also very busy elsewhere. Maderno also served as an architect of the Reverend Fabric of St. Peter's. He was heavily involved with building the imposing facade of the Vatican basilica.

There had been a fountain opposite the ancient basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore throughout the Middle Ages and possibly earlier in accordance with Roman common practice. This was a simple porphyry basin supported on small pillars which used water from the old Marcio aqueduct. In line to this old Roman tradition, Pope Paul V initiated the building of a new fountain in the same square. He had designer Maderno, believed to be in association with the architect Gaspare de Vecchi do the job.

Originally, the basin was of an irregular oblong shape with two small "eagle" water fountains on the longer sides and, in between, at the curved ends, two large dragons. The eagles can still be seen above the masks, but the dragons disappeared according to records in the 19th century. These early decorations were believed to have contributed to quite a different air to the whole construction which has now fallen into a very bad state. For most, it no longer is the wonderful sight it once was.