it consists of a central, high backrest with two pilasters supporting a cornice and frontispiece interrupted by royal coat of arms. between the fluted pilasters, is a lower cartouche with inscription, while the upper cartouche consists of two castles in high relief, one on either side of an edicule (where at one time there would have existed an image of the virgin, in her invocation as "senhora dos virtudes"). this combination of imagery taken together represents the coat-of-arms of the city of oporto. on each side of this set is an acrobatic pyramid attached to their respective pilasters by a scroll. the lower central part includes two frowning renaissance faces from which are the water spouts.