The Porcellino statue

Description

The Porcellino statue, or rather the Fontana del Porcellino, is located on the edge of the Loggia del Mercato Nuovo, not far from the Ponte Vecchio and Palazzo Vecchio, in the historic center of Florence.

The bronze statue is a copy of Pietro Tacca's original work, dating back to 1633 which, in turn, is a copy of a Roman marble sculpture from the Hellenistic period that Pope Pius IV gave to Cosimo I in 1560. The original bronze statue is in the Bardini Museum, while the Roman marble statue is in the Uffizi Gallery.


Porcellino in Italian means piglet so this should be a statue of a piglet, even if it is clear that the represented animal is actually a wild boar. The naming of this statue is lost in the mists of time. Even the famous writer Hans Christian Andersen, called it a piglet when describing it:


“In front of a sort of market in this street, where vegetables are sold, stands an artificial but beautifully fashioned bronze piglet. A fountain of fresh clear water gushes out of the animal's mouth. Age has turned it dark green; only its snout shines as if it had been polished [...] "


The words of the Danish writer remind us how the Fontana del Porcellino has always been linked to popular superstition. According to tradition, if you rub the nose of the piglet you will have good luck. Actually the complete procedure would be to rub its snout and then put a coin in its mouth: the coin must fall through the grate and then into the water, only then will you be granted good luck.


Where is it?

Piazza del mercato nuovo 6, firenze


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