(Italian "piglet") is the local Florentine nickname for the bronze fountain of a

boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

. The fountain figure was sculpted and cast by

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

master Pietro Tacca (1577–1640) shortly before 1634, following a marble Italian copy of 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 ...

marble original, at the time in the Grand Ducal collections and today on display in the classical section of the

Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery ( ; , ) is a prominent art museum adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums and the most visited, it is also one of th ...

Museum. The original, which was found in Rome and removed to Florence in the mid-16th century by the

Medici The House of Medici ( , ; ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici and his grandson Lorenzo "the Magnificent" during the first half of the 15th ...

, was associated from the time of its rediscovery with the

Calydonian Boar The Calydonian boar hunt is one of the great heroic adventures in Greek legend. It occurred in the generation prior to that of the Trojan War, and stands alongside the other great heroic adventure of that generation, the voyage of the Argonauts, ...

Greek myth Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories concern the ancien ...

. Tacca's bronze, which has eclipsed the Roman marble that served as model, was originally intended for the Boboli Garden, then moved to the Mercato Nuovo in

Florence, Italy Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence was a centre of medieval European t ...

; the fountain was placed originally facing east, in via Calimala, in front of the pharmacy that by association gained the name ''Farmacia del Cinghiale'' (Italian for "boar"). To gain more space for market traffic it was later moved to the side facing south, where it still stands as one of the most popular features for tourists. The present statue is a modern copy, cast in 1998 by

Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry The Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry (abbreviated as FAFM), is a bronze foundry based in Florence, Italy. It uses the Renaissance-era bronze, technique of lost-wax. The foundry has created numerous bronze sculptures over the past century. A ...

and replaced in 2008, while Tacca's bronze is sheltered in the new Museo Stefano Bardini in Palazzo Mozzi. Visitors to put a coin into the boar's gaping jaws, with the intent to let it fall through the underlying grating for good luck, and they rub the boar's snout to ensure a return to Florence, a tradition that the Scottish literary traveller

Tobias Smollett Tobias George Smollett (bapt. 19 March 1721 – 17 September 1771) was a Scottish writer and surgeon. He was best known for writing picaresque novels such as ''The Adventures of Roderick Random'' (1748), ''The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle'' ...

already noted in 1766, which has kept the snout in a state of polished sheen while the rest of the boar's body has patinated to a dull brownish-green.

Copies

Copies of the sculpture can be found around the world. Some of the locations are: ;Australia * Sydney Hospital, Sydney, NSW ; ;Belgium *Royal Greenhouses of Laeken,

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

*Place de Bastogne, Koekelberg,

*Enghien Park,

Enghien Enghien (; ; ; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1January 2006, Enghien had a total population of 11,980. The total area is , which gives a population density of 295 inhabitants per km2. ...

Antwerp Zoo Antwerp Zoo () is a zoo in the centre of Antwerp, Belgium, located next to the Antwerpen-Centraal railway station. It is the oldest animal park in the country, and one of the oldest in the world, established on 21 July 1843. History Since its ...

; ;Canada * Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC *Modern Languages building,

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

, Waterloo, ON *

Art Gallery of Nova Scotia The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (AGNS) is a public provincial museums of Canada, provincial art museum based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The art museum's primary building complex is located in downtown Halifax and takes up ...

, Halifax, NS ;Denmark *Brotorvet,

Holstebro Holstebro is the main town in Holstebro Municipality, Denmark. The town, bisected by Storå, Denmark, ''Storåen'' ("The Large Creek") and has a population of 37,487 (1 January 2025).Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

, Paris *Place Richelme,

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

;Germany *'' Sitzender Keiler'' (recreation by Martin Mayer) in the Borstei and in front of the Deutschen Jagd- und Fischereimuseum, Munich ;Italy *

Rispescia Rispescia (), or Santa Maria di Rispescia, is a small town in southern Tuscany, a '' frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Grosseto, situated about 10 km south-east of the capital, right outside the Natural Park of Maremma, near the frazione of Al ...

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and a ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the province of Grosseto and the main city of the Maremma region. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

;Japan * Tokyo, Nihonbashi District
Pigeon Corporation Headquarters
*Fuji City, Shizuoka Prefecture *Uroko no Ie, Kitano Ijinkan,

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

, Hyogo Prefecture ;Norway *Slemdal skole,

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

;Spain *Parque de El Capricho,

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

;Sweden *'' Lejonet och svinet'',

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

;United Kingdom * Derby Arboretum, Derby, England *

Chatsworth House Chatsworth House is a stately home in the Derbyshire Dales, north-east of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield, England. The seat of the Duke of Devonshire, it has belonged to the House of Cavendish, Cavendish family si ...

, Derbyshire, England * Leweston School, Dorset, England *

Castle Howard Castle Howard is an English country house in Henderskelfe, North Yorkshire, north of York. A private residence, it has been the home of the Earl of Carlisle, Carlisle branch of the House of Howard, Howard family for more than 300 years. Castle ...

, North Yorkshire *

St Mary's College, Durham St Mary’s College is a Colleges of Durham University, constituent college of Durham University. It is located mainly on Elvet, Elvet Hill to the South of the city centre, becoming the first of Durham’s “Colleges of the University of Durha ...

, Durham, England * Kimmerghame House, Scottish Borders, Scotland *

Osborne House Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat. Albert designed the house in the style ...

, Isle of Wight, England ;U.S. *Arkansas **

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

campus, Fayetteville *California **Eberle Winery, Paso Robles. **Viansa Winery, Sonoma *Colorado ** Museum of Outdoor Arts, Englewood *Connecticut **

Choate Rosemary Hall Choate Rosemary Hall ( ) is a Independent school, private, Mixed-sex education, co-educational, College-preparatory school, college-preparatory boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1890, it took its present na ...

, Wallingford *Delaware **

Delaware Museum of Natural History The Delaware Museum of Nature & Science (DMNH, formerly Delaware Museum of Natural History) is a museum located in Wilmington, Delaware. The museum was founded in 1957 by John Eleuthere du Pont near Greenville, Delaware; it opened in 1972 on a s ...

, Wilmington *Georgia ** Armstrong Kessler Mansion, 447 Bull Street,

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

*Hawaii **Honolulu, private collection *Illinois, **Riverview Inn & Suites, on the Rock River in Rockford *Kansas **The Villages Shopping Center, Prairie Village *Kentucky **Louisville, private collection *Louisiana **R. W. Norton Art Gallery,

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

*Missouri **

Country Club Plaza The Country Club Plaza (often called The Plaza) is a privately owned regional shopping center in the Country Club District of Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri. Opened in 1923, it is considered to be the first planned large outdoor su ...

, N.W. Corner of 47th Street and Wornall Road,

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

*Nevada **Main Street Station Casino Brewery Hotel - at casino bar, Las Vegas *New York **Sutton Park ** The Great Escape & Splashwater Kingdom amusement park at Queensbury *North Carolina **Mar Boar Restaurant, Wallace *Pennsylvania **Former Strawbridge & Clothier store, 801 Market Street, Philadelphia *South Carolina **Poinsett Plaza, Greenville *Texas **Plaza Skillman Shopping Center,

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

** Dallas Zoo, Dallas ** Rice Village,

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

*Vermont ** Lyndon Center *Virginia **Stone Tower Winery,

Leesburg, Virginia Leesburg is a town in and the county seat of Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. It is part of both the Northern Virginia region of the state and the Washington metropolitan area, including Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. European se ...

In popular culture

The sculpture appears in literature as well as onscreen.

In literature

The figures in

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

's "The Bronze Hog" in ''A Poet's Bazaar''. A plaque nearby explains the relationship between this boar and the story.

In film

appears in the 2001 film ''

Hannibal Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal's fat ...

'' when Chief Inspector Rinaldo Pazzi (

Giancarlo Giannini Giancarlo Giannini (; born 1 August 1942) is an Italian actor and voice actor. He won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in '' Love and Anarchy'' (1973) and received an Academy Award nomination for '' Seven Beaut ...

) cleans his hands in the fountain. The statue is also seen briefly in ''

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the second novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series. The plot follows Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry ...

'' (2002) as Harry Potter and Ron Weasley climb the Hogwarts staircase after crashing into the Whomping Willow, and again on the same staircase during the flashback scene where Tom Riddle speaks to Albus Dumbledore. It also appears in '' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows –Part 2'' (2011) in the Room of Requirement. In the 1962 film '' Light in the Piazza'', Fabrizio ( George Hamilton) pats the boar's snout for luck after buying flowers.

Gallery

File:PorcellinoFlorence.jpg, Well-worn snout of in the Mercato Nuovo, Florence, Italy File:Florencja Il Porcelino RB.jpg, in Florence File:Fontana del porcellino, base 04.JPG, Detail on the base File:Il Porcellino, Bronzesvinet, Brotorvet, Holstebro, Denmark.JPG, , Bronzesvinet at Brotorvet, Holstebro, Denmark File:SydneyHospital IlPorcellino gobeirne.jpg, A copy (1962) in Sydney File:Il Porcellino in Munich.jpg, In front of the Deutsches Jagd- und Fischereimuseum in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Germany File:UWaterloo Porcellino.jpg, On the

campus File:Porcellino at Stone Tower Winery, Virginia, USA.jpg, At Stone Tower Winery, Leesburg, Virginia

References

External links

''Porcellino'' (Museum of Outdoor Arts)

Smithsonian Institution SIRIS Inventory

The Florentine - article » ''The Porcellino''

The legend of ''Porcellino''
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430163333/http://thegentlemanangler.com/historic-tales/the-legend-of-porcellino/1290/ , date=2013-04-30 Bronze sculptures in Florence 1630s sculptures Sculptures of pigs Fountains in Florence Outdoor sculptures in Florence Animal sculptures in Italy