Talking Statues, Rome’s Secret Gossipers
Once upon a time in distant 15th century
But who actually was this mysterious and ruined statue? The sculpture dates back to the Hellenistic Period, around 250-200 BC. The Hellenistic period began with the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, when his sudden decease left his Greek empire without an heir. Several of his top generals fought amongst themselves to divide his colossal realm, eventually culminating in the creation of three major Macedonian kingdoms. During this transitory period between the decline of classical
The Hellenistic statue known as Pasquino by modern Romans is speculated to have once decorated a public stadium. Although Bernini believed the figures to represent Alexander the Great being rescued by a soldier, and even considered the worn sculpture one of the finest pieces of ancient
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Typical of Hellenistic sculpture, the viewer can distinguish the epic Homeric figures based on subtle physical details. The rescuer sports enormous muscles while the dead soldier is smaller and not as defined. More importantly, the two men differ in hairstyles and dress. The beard and long hair of the rescuer indicate his senior status, in contrast with the short hair and beardless face of the dead soldier. Shorter hair symbolized a lesser rank in the time of the Iliad, so the viewer would have known instantly that the dead man is young and does not hold a high position. Thus, Bernini’s conjecture that the rescued man is Alexander, who obviously held a rank of utmost importance, is incorrect. Moreover, the dress of the two figures offers evidence as to their identities. The elder hero is fully outfitted with a tunic, shield, and helmet, whereas the dead youth is strikingly naked. Those who knew the Iliad would realize that these conspicuous differences between the two soldiers were clearly an illustration of the Homeric episode of Menelaus recovering the body of Patroklos. Besides, Menelaus’ large round shield frames the figures in an eye-catching pyramidal form, with Menelaus’ helmeted head forming the peak of the pyramid. The two bodies twist in opposing directions, with Patroklos’ limp head dangling to the side and Menelaus gazing off intensely into the distance. Such a carefully constructed and powerful formation leads the viewer to grasp that the elder hero must be part of an epic rescue.
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Although most of what remains of the original sculpture is the worn torso of Menelaus and a small portion of Patroklos’ chest, the Pasquino has remained a stealthy vehicle of satire for centuries. It rests in a corner of the Piazza di Pasquino, a square named for obvious reasons. The clever rhymes posted on Pasquino even inspired the creation of the word “pasquinade,” defined as “a brief and generally anonymous satirical comment in prose or verse that ridicules a contemporary leader or national event.” Despite papal laws that banned protest as heretic, crafty rebels continued inventing anti-papal satires that worried the papacy to the point that Pope Adrianus VI (1522-1523) resolved himself to silence the statue. Adrianus put the gossiping marble under nightly surveillance and threatened to throw the statue into the
http://www.romaspqr.it/roma/Statue/St.%20marforio.htm
Unearthed in
“To make the hair and beard merge into the god’s breast and shoulders would have been simple both in conception and execution, but only a genius could have secured to the massive and supine figure that appearance of being outstretched in powerful yet melting length.”
This striking river god became the second talking statue, allowing Pasquino and Marforio to have little conversations. Ignoring all attempts by the pope to silence their political protests, people hung questions from Marforio, to which Pasquino would respond wittily. As early as 1509, the educated bookseller Giacomo Mazzocchi began gathering and distributing these satires, eventually publishing his complete collection in 1544 under the title “Pasquillorum, Tomi Duo.” Although published in
One of the many leaders mocked is Pope Leo X (1513-1521). A man of luxurious tastes, he resorted to selling off anything from cardinals’ hats to statues of Apostles to help pay for his overspending. The lucky Leo received numerous epitaphs in his honor, like the following:
Marforio:“Do you ask why Leo did not take the sacrament on his deathbed?”
Pasquino: “How could he-he had sold it!”
Pope Paul III (1534-1549) of the Farnese family was another scathingly ridiculed pope. Like many popes, he blatantly practiced nepotism, so evidenced in his elevation of two Farnese youths to cardinal positions, one of whom was Pier Luigi. The unpopular Pier had a reputation for rudeness and sodomy, so one clever pasquinade likened his image to Michelangelo’s Last Judgement, which features an unlucky man with a snake biting his sensitive area.
“Bound in Hell,
With a snake that bites him in the prick,
For the sin of breaking arses.
For this, in eternity,
Christ condemns the buggerers to the fire,
And to stand with a serpent in this sad place.”
To Pope Sixtus V’s (1585-1590) embarrassment, another conversation between Pasquino and Marforio goes,
Marforio: “You look very vulgar, Pasquino, why do you appear in the street with a dirty shirt?”
Pasquino: “My washer-woman has been made a princess”
This dialogue ridicules the Pope’s sister, who was a lowly laundress before his election. (Hachot) One exaggerated tale tells of how the irritated Sixtus struggled greatly to silence Pasquino’s incessant lampoons. He supposedly rounded up all the poets of
The removal of Marforio from public nightly access did not deter satirists. Soon more statues joined the gossip, until four more were added to the chatty group-
Madame
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The only female talking statue, Madame Lucrezia is an extremely worn and massive bust of an unidentified woman, although some believe her to be a priestess of the Egyptian goddess Isis. The 3-meter tall Madame sits in a corner of a piazza quite near the
“What the barbarians didn’t do, the Barberini did.”
This quip harshly ridicules the decision of Pope Urban VIII (1623-1644) to commission the famed artist Bernini to strip bronze from the portico of the idolized Pantheon. Urban, always a lover of expensive magnificence and art, yearned to revitalize a decrepit St. Peter’s by building a baldacchino of bronze. Madame Lucrezia’s jibe boldly highlights the fact that even in the 1527 sack of
http://www.romeartlover.it/Talking.html
Interestingly enough, Il Facchino, or The Porter, is not an ancient statue, but rather was created around 1580 by Jacopo del Conte. The piece depicts a common water seller with cap and short-sleeved shirt holding a barrel, testifying back to the times before Sixtus V brought the aqueducts back to life. Water porters would collect water from the
http://www.romainteractive.com/shadow/immagini/italiano/bit/navona3/abate_luigi.jpg
The Abbot Luigi features a tall man dressed in toga with a head belonging to another statue, and is speculated to be an important judicial officer or emperor. He took his name from a clergyman of the Chiesa del Santa Sudario, and rests in a wall of the Basilica di Sant’Andrea della Valle.
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The final talking sculpture is Il Babuino, another more modern creation. In 1581 the wealthy merchant Patrizio Grandi commissioned the construction of a fountain, which was decorated with this statue. Although the artist intended for the reclining figure to represent a satyr (half-man half-goat), after Pope Pious IV (1558-1565) moved the statue to a public location, so many people mocked the unfortunately simian-looking figure that the satyr was christened, “Il Babuino,” or “The Babboon.” He now rests on the Via del Babuino near the Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli.
Political satire had its roots in these six talking statues, who have continued to demonstrate their influence and irk governments ever since the clever Pasquino was unearthed in 1501. In the early 1700s, for example, the English writer Henry Fielding wrote a play entitled “Pasquin”, which poked fun at the current government. This work, along with several of his other plays, led to the repressive Theatrical Licensing Act of 1737. The Act stated that the Lord Chamberlin must approve all plays before they could be published, which ensured the censorship of all political satire.
Regardless, Pasquino still inspires rebellious individuals today, evident in the creation of the small grassroots company, Pasquinade Films. Pasquino’s frame has never stopped being plastered with witty rhymes, deriding everything from the nepotism of popes, to the extravagant welcomes thrown for Hitler, to the sex scandals of Berlusconi. A few years ago, Roman officials decided to renovate Pasquino, an act which included removing his satirical notes and boarding up his base. Within days, dozens of statements covered the boards, saying things like, “Who turned out the lights?” His base was promptly uncovered. When I visited the statue, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it today still features messages like “The Italian Blowjob,” a poem about Berlusconi. Pasquino, the voice of the Roman people, can never be silenced.
Claridge, Amanda, Judith Toms, and Tony Cubberley.
Disraeli, Isaac. “Pasquin and Marforio.” Curiosities of Literature Volume 1 (1834): 174- 176.
“Encyclopædia Britannica.” 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2010
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Hachot, Dr. N. “Pasquino and Marforio.” The Border Magazine Dec. 1832: 275-279.
Jaffe, Dorothea. “Scritti Politti.” Frieze Issue 78 (Oct. 2003)
Macveagh, Mrs. Charles. Fountains of Papal
Majanlahti, Anthony. “The Farnese,” selections from ch. 4 in The Families Who Made
Majanlahti, Anthony. “The Barberini,” selections from ch. 6 in The Families Who Made
Piperno, Roberto. “The Talking Statues of
Seabrook, John. “Ask Pasquino.” The New Yorker 7 June 2004.
Smith, R.R.R. Hellenistic Sculpture.
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