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Pasquino or Pasquin (;
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
: ''Pasquinus, Pasquillus'') is the name used by Romans since the
early modern period The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...
to describe a battered
Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...
-style statue perhaps dating to the third century BC, which was unearthed in the
Parione Parione is the 6th of Rome, Italy, identified by the initials R. VI, and belongs to the Municipio I. Its name comes from the fact that in the area there was a huge ancient wall, maybe belonging to the stadium of Domitianus; the nickname people ...
district 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, ...
in the fifteenth century. It is located in a piazza of the same name on the northwest corner of the
Palazzo Braschi Palazzo Braschi () is a large Neoclassical palace in Rome, Italy and is located between the Piazza Navona, the Campo de' Fiori, the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and the Piazza di Pasquino. It presently houses the Museo di Roma, the "Museum of R ...
(Museo di Roma); near the site where it was unearthed. The statue is known as the first of the
talking statues of Rome The talking statues of Rome () or the Congregation of Wits () provided an outlet for a form of Anonymity, anonymous political expression in Rome. Criticisms in the form of poems or witticisms were posted on well-known statues in Rome, as an early ...
, because of the tradition of attaching anonymous criticisms to its base. The satirical literary form
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 ...
(or "pasquil") takes its name from this tradition. The actual subject of the sculpture is ''
Menelaus supporting the body of Patroclus ''The Pasquino Group'' (also known as ''Menelaus Carrying the Body of Patroclus'' or ''Ajax Carrying the Body of Achilles'') is a group of marble sculptures that copy a Hellenistic bronze original, dating to ca. 200–150 BCE. At least fifteen Ro ...
'', and the subject, or the composition applied to other figures as in the
Sperlonga sculptures The Sperlonga sculptures are a large and elaborate ensemble of ancient sculptures discovered in 1957 in the grounds of the former villa of the Emperor Tiberius at Sperlonga, on the coast between Rome and Naples. As reconstructed, the sculp ...
, occurs a number of times in classical sculpture, where it is now known as a "
Pasquino group ''The Pasquino Group'' (also known as ''Menelaus Carrying the Body of Patroclus'' or ''Ajax Carrying the Body of Achilles'') is a group of marble sculptures that copy a Hellenistic bronze original, dating to ca. 200–150 BCE. At least fifteen Ro ...
". The actual identification of the sculptural subject was made in the eighteenth century by the
antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...
Ennio Quirino Visconti Ennio Quirino Visconti (November 1, 1751 – February 7, 1818) was a Roman politician, antiquarian, and art historian, papal Prefect of Antiquities, and the leading expert of his day in the field of ancient Roman sculpture. His son, Pietro Ercole ...
, who identified it as the torso of
Menelaus In Greek mythology, Menelaus (; ) was a Greek king of Mycenaean (pre- Dorian) Sparta. According to the ''Iliad'', the Trojan war began as a result of Menelaus's wife, Helen, fleeing to Troy with the Trojan prince Paris. Menelaus was a central ...
supporting the dying
Patroclus In Greek mythology, Patroclus (generally pronounced ; ) was a Greek hero of the Trojan War and an important character in Homer's ''Iliad''. Born in Opus, Patroclus was the son of the Argonaut Menoetius. When he was a child, he was exiled from ...
; the more famous of two Medici versions of this is in the
Loggia dei Lanzi file:Firenze, loggia dei lanzi (2020) 01.jpg, 300px, The Loggia dei Lanzi, also called the Loggia della Signoria, is a building on the south corner of the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy, adjoining the Uffizi, Uffizi Gallery (leading t ...
in
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
, Italy. The ''Pasquino'' is more recently characterized as a
Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...
sculpture of the third century BC, or a Roman copy.


History

The statue's fame dates to the early sixteenth century, when Cardinal
Oliviero Carafa Oliviero Carafa (10 March 1430 – 20 January 1511), in Latin Oliverius Carafa, was an Italian cardinal and diplomat of the Renaissance. Like the majority of his era's prelates, he displayed the lavish and conspicuous standard of living that w ...
draped the
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 ...
torso of the statue in a toga and decorated it with Latin
epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word derives from the Greek (, "inscription", from [], "to write on, to inscribe"). This literary device has been practiced for over two millennia ...
s on the occasion of the Feast of Saint Mark. The Cardinal's actions led to a custom of criticizing the pope or his government by the writing of
satirical poems Poetry (from the Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literary art that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, literal or surface-level meanings. Any particular ...
in broad
Roman dialect Romanesco () is one of the Central Italian dialects spoken in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, especially in the Rome, core city. It is linguistically close to Tuscan dialect, Tuscan and Italian language, Standard Italian, with some notable ...
—called "pasquinades", from the Italian ''pasquinate''—and attaching them to the Pasquino. Thus Pasquino became the first "talking statue" of Rome. He spoke out about the people's dissatisfaction, denounced injustice, and assaulted misgovernment by members of the Church. From this tradition are derived the English-language terms
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 ...
and pasquil, which refer to an anonymous lampoon in verse or prose.


Etymological origins

The origin of the name, "Pasquino", remains obscure. By the mid-sixteenth century it was reported that the name "Pasquino" derived from a nearby tailor who was renowned for his wit and intellect; speculation had it that his legacy was carried on through the statue, in "the honor and everlasting remembrance of the poor tailor".


Tradition of wit

Before long, other statues appeared on the scene, forming a kind of public
salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...
or academy, the "Congress of the Wits" (''Congresso degli Arguti''), with Pasquino always the leader, and the sculptures that Romans called Marphurius,
Abbot Luigi Abbot Luigi ( Romanesco: ''Abbate Luiggi''; ) is one of the talking statues of Rome. Like the other five "talking statues", pasquinades – irreverent satires poking fun at public figures – were posted beside ''Abate Luigi'' in the 14th and 15t ...
,
Il Facchino ''Il Facchino'' (, ''The Porter'') is one of the talking statues of Rome. Like the other five "talking statues", pasquinades - irreverent satires poking fun at public figures - were posted beside ''Il Facchino'' in the 14th and 15th centuries. ...
,
Madama Lucrezia Madama Lucrezia ( Romanesco: ''Madama Lugrezzia'') is one of the six " talking statues" of Rome. Pasquinades — irreverent satires poking fun at public figures — were posted beside each of the statues from the 16th century onwards, written as i ...
, and Il Babbuino as his outspoken colleagues. The ''cartelli'' (translated as posters, placards, boards; probably the equivalent of pamphlet) on which the epigrams were written were quickly passed around, and copies were made, too numerous to suppress.Copies in private daybooks have preserved some that were too scurrilous to print. These poems were collected and published annually by the Roman printer
Giacomo Mazzocchi Giacomo Mazzocchi, in Latin on his titlepages Jacobus Mazochius, (active 1505 — 1527) was a learned bookseller, printer, and noted antiquarian in papal Rome during the High Renaissance. A native of Bergamo, Mazzocchi is first heard of in 1505 as ...
as early as 1509, as ''Carmina apposita Pasquino'', and became well known all over
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
. The lampooning tradition was ancient among Romans. For a first-century versified lampoon, see
Domus Aurea The Domus Aurea (Latin, "Golden House") was a vast landscaped complex built by the Roman Empire, Emperor Nero largely on the Oppian Hill in the heart of ancient Rome after the Great Fire of Rome, great fire in 64 AD had destroyed a large part ...
.


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


References


"The Statue of Pasquino"
{{Authority control Hellenistic-style Roman sculptures Renaissance Rome Italian satire Italian political satire Talking statues of Rome Rome R. VI Parione Sculptures of men in Italy 1500s archaeological discoveries