The statue of the River Nile in the Vatican. Engraving by F. Piranesi, 1791, after L. Corazzari.

"The numerous prints of the Nile which testify to the esteem with which it was regarded are also often misleading because the putti are either depicted intact or altogether removed. In reality, these putti existed only as broken fragments ... until repaired by Gaspare Sibilla (a commission given to him by Pope Clement XIV shortly before his death in 1774)"--Haskell & Penny, loc. cit. Here they are depicted as intact. The lettering repeats Pliny's interpretation of the sixteen putti as representing the sixteen cubits by which the river rises in the rainy season (Haskell & Penny, ibid.)