Marphurius or Marforio (;
Medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
, ) is one of the
talking statues of
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
. Marforio maintained a friendly rivalry with his most prominent rival,
Pasquin
Pasquino or Pasquin (; Latin: ''Pasquinus, 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 distr ...
. 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 b ...
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 exposin ...
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 Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...
sculpture of a reclining bearded
river god or
Oceanus
In Greek mythology, Oceanus ( ; , also , , or ) was a Titans, Titan son of Uranus (mythology), Uranus and Gaia, the husband of his sister the Titan Tethys (mythology), Tethys, and the father of the River gods (Greek mythology), river gods ...
, which in the past has been variously identified as a depiction of
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...
,
Neptune
Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...
, or the
Tiber
The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, 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 R ...
. It was the humanist and antiquarian
Andrea Fulvio
Andrea Fulvio (in his Latin publications and correspondence Andreas Fulvius; –1527) was an Italian Renaissance humanist, poet and antiquarian active in Rome, who advised Raphael in the reconstructions of ancient Rome as settings for his fresco ...
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 humanism, Renaissance humanist. He is noted for rediscovering and recove ...
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 () at the northwestern end of the Roman Forum is a white marble triumphal arch dedicated in 203 AD to commemorate the Roman–Parthian Wars, Parthian victories of Emperor Septimius Severus and his two sons, Caracalla ...
, 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
A forum (Latin: ''forum'', "public place outdoors", : ''fora''; English : either ''fora'' or ''forums'') was a public square in a municipium, or any civitas, of Ancient Rome reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, alon ...
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 (; ; ) 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 Palace; by metonymy "the Quirinal" has c ...
, 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 (), 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 the northeastern slope ...
, also near the forum, where the statue was sat until 1588.
Pope Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus 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, where h ...
had the statue moved to the
Piazza San Marco, (in Rome) in 1588, and then to the
piazza del Campidoglio
Piazza del Campidoglio ("Capitoline Square") is a public square (piazza) on the top of the ancient Capitoline Hill, between the Roman Forum and the Campus Martius in Rome, Italy. The square includes three main buildings, the Palazzo Senatorio (Se ...
in 1592, where it decorates a fountain designed by
Giacomo della Porta
Giacomo della Porta (1533–1602) was an Italian architect and sculptor. Most likely born in Genoa or Porlezza, Italy, his work was inspired by famous Renaissance artists such as Michelangelo and Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola. He started in his car ...
on a wall of the
Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara Coeli, facing the
Palazzo dei Conservatori
The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; ; ), between the Roman Forum, 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 (mythology), Saturn. The wo ...
. 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.
See also
*The
Scior Carera
; ) and ('stone man'; ) are traditional, popular names used to refer to an ancient Roman sculpture located in Milan, Italy, at No. 13 of Corso Vittorio Emanuele (next to the Duomo).Scior Carera' Before being located where it is now (on the fa ...
in
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
.
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