Porcellino

The Fontana del Porcellino is one of the most popular sculptures of Florence and goes back to a Greek model. The sculpture of the boar was near the Ponte Vecchio on the edge of the Loggia del Mercato Nuovo and internationally is copied over and over again.

History and shape

The popular name of the bronze statue Porcellino, meaning " piglet " is misleading because it shows a mature boar, a boar. The animal, as shown on the hat before the arrival of the hunter, goes back to a Roman copy of a Hellenistic marble sculpture of Pope Pius IV in 1560, Cosimo I de ' Medici gave during his visit to Rome. The original marble is now in the Uffizi. Cosimo II de ' Medici in 1612 had given a copy in bronze at Pietro Tacca as decoration for the Palazzo Pitti in order. The wax model was built about 1620, due to other and more pressing orders of the Grand Duke, about the four Moors in Livorno or two fountain in Piazza SS Annunziata, the cast was not before 1633rd Although it is a copy, reveals the naturalistic representation of details, such as the fur of the animal, the exceptional skills Taccas as bronze sculptor who was the best pupil of Giambologna. The original of the Boar is located in the Bardini Museum.

Some years after the cast decided Ferdinando II de ' Medici, to transform the sculpture in a fountain, which is documented in the Loggia of the Mercato Nuovo since at least 1640. The fountain was given in addition to the decorative primarily a practical function, because it served the water supply to the dealer that sold under the loggia fine fabrics such as silk, brocade and cloth of wool. At this time, the diminutive " Porcellino " was born. Tacca also created the original of the bronze basin (now in the archive) to collect the water of the fountain. The original location was in front of the same pharmacy del cinghiale ( = boar ) on the Via Por Santa Maria, opened in the first half of the 18th century, and a meeting place for intellectuals. In the nineteenth century the sculpture was moved to its current location in order to improve the flow of traffic.

The base is octagonal with stretched front to accommodate a small pool, in the water falls out of the mouth of the pig. The base is embellished with a representation, again in bronze, and shows as a living environment of the animal swamps where the wild boar with plants and animals, such as amphibians, reptiles and molluscs, which are all remarkable realism. Even the base you see is not the original. In 1897 it was rebuilt by Pope Clement to repair damage caused by wear and tear over time, it was a revised version from 1988 by Ferdinando Marinelli, as an explanation on the right side: the original, together with the pig, since 2004 in the Bardini Museum.

Superstition

In the vernacular, it is said that touching the nose of the pig brings happiness that shines from everyday polishing of hundreds of hands. The complete process of obtaining a good omen would be the pig to put a coin in the mouth after you have rubbed the nose of the pig: If the coin falls behind the grille, where the water flows, the procedure will bring good luck, otherwise not. In fact, the inclination is such that only the heavier coins fall into the lattice, which collects the city council there.

Trivia

In the movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 will see the protagonists, the statue in the Room of Requirement, where Harry studied the diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw.

Copies

There are numerous copies of the fountain in the world, for example in the Castle of Enghien in Belgium or on the "Place Richelme " in Aix -en- Provence in France.

Also known is the copy before the Sydney Hospital, which was founded in 1968 by the Florentine Marquise Fiaschi Torrigiani in memory of the Italian companies operating in Australia doctor Piero Fiaschi provided with the same promise of happiness as in Florence. The coins collected in this way will benefit the hospital.

In Germany, located next to the sculpture in front of the Hunting and Fishing Museum in Munich in the park of Schloss Nordkirchen several copies. Additional copies are located in the following locations:

  • Sydney Hospital - Sydney, NSW, Australia
  • Brotorvet - Holstebro, Denmark
  • Prior to the German Hunting and Fishing Museum in Munich
  • Multiple copies in the park of Schloss Nordkirchen
  • Place Richelme in Aix -en- Provence
  • Derby Arboretum - Derby, Great Britain
  • University of Waterloo Faculty of Arts -Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
  • Butchart Gardens - Victoria, BC, Canada
  • Viansa Winery - Sonoma, CA, USA
  • Lyndon Center - Lyndon, VT, USA
  • Sutton Park - New York, NY, USA
  • University of Arkansas - Fayetteville, AR, USA
  • R. W. Norton Art Gallery - Shreveport, LA
  • Museum of Outdoor Arts - Englewood, CO
  • Poinsett Plaza - Greenville, SC
  • N.W. Corner of 47th Street and Wornall Road - Kansas City, MO, USA
Aix-en-Provence Deutsches Jagd- und Fischereimuseum
656921
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