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

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",

pasquinade A pasquinade or pasquil is a form of satire, usually an anonymous brief lampoon in verse or prose, and can also be seen as a form of literary caricature. The genre became popular in early modern Europe, in the 16th century, though the term had ...

s - 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 o ...

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 The Via del Corso is a main street in the historical centre of Rome. It is straight in an area otherwise characterized by narrow meandering alleys and small piazzas. Considered a wide street in ancient times, the Corso is approximately 10 metres w ...

, 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 ...

. In 1874, it was moved to its current position, to the side of the same building, now the

Banco di Roma Banco di Roma was an Italian bank based in Rome, Lazio region. It was established on 9 March 1880. Along with Credito Italiano and Banca Commerciale Italiana they were considered as bank of national interests. In 1991 the bank was merged with Ba ...

, on the

Via Lata The Via del Corso is a main street in the historical centre of Rome. It is straight in an area otherwise characterized by narrow meandering alleys and small piazzas. Considered a wide street in ancient times, the Corso is approximately 10 metres w ...

. Unlike the other talking statues, which are all dated to

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, 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 ...

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

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 Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

.''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