Anita Ekberg, who famously waded in Rome’s Trevi Fountain with Marcello Mastroianni in the 1960 classic film La Dolce Vita, would probably say: “It’s about time, darling!”

The fountain, arguably the world’s most recognisable, is about to get the most thorough face-lift since it was completed in 1762 and the restoration was presented on Monday by a man who also uses the word darling a lot: fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. Lagerfeld is artistic director of Fendi, the Italian luxury fashion house which is picking up the tab for the €2.2 million restoration.

The 20-month restoration will clean the fountain, which covers the entire façade of Rome’s Palazzo Poli with its allegorical statues of Tritons guiding the shell chariot of the god Oceanus illustrating the theme of the taming of the waters.

The restoration will remove calcium deposits, clean the statues, check the strength of steel supporting them, apply new waterproofing to the large basin, fix leaks, install new pumps and electric works and add new barriers to keep pigeons away.

But tourists need not worry. Only one third of the monument will be covered by scaffolding at any time.

The last restoration was about 25 years ago, but officials said new techniques developed since then would make it the most thorough cleaning in the fountain’s 251-year history.

“There is no tourist in the world who does not dream of standing before the Trevi Fountain at least once in their life,” said Rome mayor Gianni Alemanno.

Tourists will still be able to toss coins in the basin – a tradition said to ensure that they will return to the Eternal City.