Marphurius or Marforio ( it, Marforio;

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

la, Marphurius, ) is one of the talking statues of

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

. Marforio maintained a friendly rivalry with his most prominent rival,

Pasquin Pasquino or Pasquin (Latin: ''Pasquillus'') is the name used by Romans since the early modern period to describe a battered Hellenistic-style statue perhaps dating to the third century BC, which was unearthed in the Parione district of Rome i ...

. As at 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 or e ...

s poking fun at public figures—were posted beside Marforio in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The statue and its location

Marforio is a large 1st century

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

sculpture of a reclining bearded river god or

Oceanus In Greek mythology, Oceanus (; grc-gre, , Ancient Greek pronunciation: , also Ὠγενός , Ὤγενος , or Ὠγήν ) was a Titan son of Uranus and Gaia, the husband of his sister the Titan Tethys, and the father of the river gods a ...

, which in the past has been variously identified as a depiction of

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth th ...

Neptune Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times ...

, or 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 Ri ...

. It was the humanist and antiquarian

Andrea Fulvio Andrea Fulvio (in his Latin publications and correspondence Andreas Fulvius; c. 1470–1527) was an Italian Renaissance humanist, poet and antiquarian active in Rome, who advised Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael ...

who first identified it as a river god, in 1527. The ''Marfoi'' was a landmark in Rome from the late 12th century.

Poggio Bracciolini Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini (11 February 1380 – 30 October 1459), usually referred to simply as Poggio Bracciolini, was an Italian scholar and an early Renaissance humanist. He was responsible for rediscovering and recovering many classi ...

wrote of it as one of the sculptures surviving from Antiquity, and in the early 16th century it was still near the

Arch of Septimius Severus The Arch of Septimius Severus ( it, Arco di Settimio Severo) at the northwestern end of the Roman Forum is a white marble triumphal arch dedicated in 203 A.D. to commemorate the Parthian victories of Emperor Septimius Severus and his two sons, ...

, where the various authors reported it. The origin of its name is a matter of some debate. It was discovered with a granite basin bearing the inscription ''mare in foro'',The black and white granite basin was shifted to form a fountain for watering cattle in the Campo Vaccino, as the

Roman Forum The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum ( it, Foro Romano), is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient ...

had become; it was removed in 1818 to stand before one of the

Horse Tamers The colossal pair of marble "Horse Tamers"—often identified as Castor and Pollux—have stood since antiquity near the site of the Baths of Constantine on the Quirinal Hill, Rome. Napoleon's agents wanted to include them among the classical ...

on the

Quirinal Hill The Quirinal Hill (; la, Collis Quirinalis; it, Quirinale ) is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center. It is the location of the official residence of the Italian head of state, who resides in the Quirinal Palac ...

, often known in the past as ''Alexander and Bucephalus'' (Haskell and Penny 1981:136, 258. but may take its name from the Latin name for the area in which it was discovered (''Martis Forum''), or from the Marioli (or Marfuoli) family who owned property near the

Mamertine Prison The Mamertine Prison ( it, Carcere Mamertino), in antiquity the Tullianum, was a prison (''carcer'') with a dungeon (''oubliette'') located in the Comitium in ancient Rome. It is said to have been built in the 7th century BC and was situated on ...

, also near the forum, where the statue was sat until 1588.

Pope Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V ( it, Sisto V; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order ...

had the statue moved to the Piazza San Marco, (in Rome) in 1588, and then to the

piazza del Campidoglio The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. ...

in 1592, where it decorates a fountain designed by

Giacomo della Porta Giacomo della Porta (1532–1602) was an Italian architect and sculptor, who worked on many important buildings in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica. He was born at Porlezza, Lombardy and died in Rome. Biography Giacomo Della Porta was ...

on a wall of the Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara Coeli, facing the

Palazzo dei Conservatori The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. T ...

. Part of the face, the right foot, and the left hand holding a shell were restored in 1594. In 1645, the building of the Palazzo Nuovo enclosed the fountain in its courtyard.

Notes

Bibliography

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

External links

Roma Segreta: Marforio

''The Insider's Guide to Rome'', p.73''Chambers' Edinburgh Journal'', p.106
{{Monuments of Rome Fountains in Rome Talking statues of Rome 1st-century Roman sculptures Rome R. X Campitelli Sculptures of gods

The statue and its location

See also

Notes

Bibliography

External links