As is the case of the Sonnet of the Steps, the author for the inscriptions found under the garden’s statues is unknown. It is most likely that they were inspired or suggested by the two Barbarigo’s brothers, the Cardinal Gregorio and the ‘Procuratore di San Marco’ Antonio. This page details each of the inscriptions.
Almost all of the over 60 statues and as many smaller sculptures are in Istrian stone and largely attributed to Merengo, a German sculptor from Westphalia (Heinrich Meyring) who was very active in Venice in the years 1679-1714.
The only statue not in Istrian stone is the statue of the ‘Putto’ of the Deceptions’ Fountain or Fountain of the Water Tricks (games) or, indead, the Putto’s Fountain. This statue, which depicts a beautiful putto holding a basket of flowers and fruit on his curly head, after the recent cleaning of almost 400 years of limestone accumulation, was found to be in white Carrara marble and attributed to the Bernini workshop, perhaps even to the great Gian Lorenzo.