''Il Facchino'' ( it, Il Facchino, ''The Porter'') is one of the

talking statues Talking may refer to: * Speech, the product of the action of ''to talk'' * Communication by spoken words; conversation or discussion Other uses * "Talking" (The Rifles song), 2007 * "Talking" (A Flock of Seagulls song), 1983 * "Talking", a son ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Like the other five "talking statues", pasquinades - irreverent

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

s poking fun at public figures - were posted beside ''Il Facchino'' in the 14th and 15th centuries. ''Il Facchino'' was originally sited on the via del Corso, on the main facade of the Palazzo De Carolis Simonetti, near the

piazza Venezia Piazza Venezia () is a central hub of Rome, Italy, in which several thoroughfares intersect, including the Via dei Fori Imperiali and the Via del Corso. It takes its name from the Palazzo Venezia, built by the Venetian Cardinal, Pietro Barbo (la ...

. In 1874, it was moved to its current position, to the side of the same building, now the Banco di Roma, on the Via Lata. Unlike the other talking statues, which are all dated to

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

, ''Il Facchino'' is relatively modern. The statue was created in around 1580, to a design by

Jacopo del Conte Jacopino del Conte (1510–1598; also spelled ''Iacopino'') was an Italian Mannerist painter, active in both Rome and Florence. A native of Florence, Jacopino del Conte was born the same year as another Florence, Florentine master Cecchino d ...

for the Corporazione degli Aquaroli . It depicts a man wearing a cap and a sleeved shirt, carrying a barrel - an "acquarolo", who would take water from the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Riv ...

to sell on the streets of Rome during the period before the Roman aqueducts were repaired at the orders of the Popes and the public fountains played again. Somewhat incongruously, water spouts from the centre of the barrel, creating a fountain. The man's face is badly damaged, the result of paving stones thrown at it over the years, in the popular misapprehension because of the soft cap, that it portrayed

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

.''Le strade di Roma'', Redazione Grandi Opere; Newton Compton Editori; Rome 1988; Vol. III:909

Bibliography

*Rendina, C., "Pasquino statua parlante”, ''ROMA ieri, oggi, domani'', n. 20 – febbraio 1990

References

External links

Roma Segreta: via del Corso: La fontana del Facchino

''The Insider's Guide to Rome'', p.73''Chambers' Edinburgh Journal'', p.106
{{DEFAULTSORT:Facchino Fountains in Rome Talking statues of Rome 16th-century sculptures Rome R. IX Pigna

See also

Bibliography

References

External links