Porcellino

Pietro Tacca's bronze Porcellino (Museo Bardini)

Il Porcellino (Italian "piglet") is the local Florentine nickname for the bronze fountain of a boar. The fountain figure was sculpted and cast by Baroque master Pietro Tacca (1577–1640) shortly before 1634,[1] following a marble Italian copy of a Hellenistic marble original, at the time in the Grand Ducal collections and today on display in the classical section of the Uffizi Museum. The original, which was found in Rome and removed to Florence in the mid-16th century by the Medici, was associated from the time of its rediscovery with the Calydonian Boar of Greek myth.[2]

Tacca's bronze, which has eclipsed the Roman marble that served as model,[3] was originally intended for the Boboli Garden, then moved to the Mercato Nuovo in Florence, Italy; 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 and replaced in 2008, while Tacca's bronze is sheltered in the new Museo Stefano Bardini in Palazzo Mozzi.[4]

Visitors to Il Porcellino 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 already noted in 1766,[5] 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.[citation needed]

Copies

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Copies of the sculpture can be found around the world. Some of the locations are:

Australia
Belgium
Canada
Denmark
France
Germany
Italy
Japan
Norway
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom
U.S.
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The sculpture appears in literature as well as onscreen.

In literature

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The Porcellino figures in Hans Christian Andersen's "The Bronze Hog" in A Poet's Bazaar.[18] A plaque nearby explains the relationship between this boar and the story.

In film

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Il Porcellino appears in the 2001 film Hannibal when Chief Inspector Rinaldo Pazzi (Giancarlo Giannini) cleans his hands in the fountain.

The statue is also seen briefly in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (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.[citation needed]

In the 1962 film Light in the Piazza, Fabrizio (George Hamilton) pats the boar's snout for luck after buying flowers.[citation needed]

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  • Well-worn snout of Il Porcellino in the Mercato Nuovo, Florence, Italy
    Well-worn snout of Il Porcellino in the Mercato Nuovo, Florence, Italy
  • Il Porcellino in Florence
    Il Porcellino in Florence
  • Detail on the base
    Detail on the base
  • Il Porcellino, Bronzesvinet at Brotorvet, Holstebro, Denmark
    Il Porcellino, Bronzesvinet at Brotorvet, Holstebro, Denmark
  • A copy (1962) in Sydney[19]
    A copy (1962) in Sydney[19]
  • In front of the Deutsches Jagd- und Fischereimuseum in Munich, Germany
    In front of the Deutsches Jagd- und Fischereimuseum in Munich, Germany
  • On the University of Waterloo campus
    On the University of Waterloo campus
  • At Stone Tower Winery, Leesburg, Virginia
    At Stone Tower Winery, Leesburg, Virginia

References

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  1. ^ The commission, from Cosimo II de' Medici, dated to 1621 (Piero Torriti, Pietro Tacca da Carrara, 1975:39, noted in Haskell and Penny).
  2. ^ Haskell, Francis; Penny, Nicholas (1981). Taste and the Antique : the Lure of Classical Sculpture, 1500-1900. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-02913-6. OCLC 6863945.
  3. ^ Haskell and Penny.
  4. ^ "Ground Floor (#6)". Museo Stefano Bardini. Archived from the original on 2020-01-22. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  5. ^ Smollett, Travels Through France and Italy, 1766, Letter XXVIII, noted in Haskell and Penny.
  6. ^ Shirley Fitzgerald (2008). "Il Porcellino". Dictionary of Sydney. Dictionary of Sydney Trust. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  7. ^ "Kunst" (in Dutch). Antwerp Zoo. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  8. ^ "Celebrating the Boar". Special Collections & Archives. University of Waterloo Library. 6 March 2015. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  9. ^ "Jagd und Fischerei Museum München". Archived from the original on 2002-01-19. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  10. ^ "Kitano-cho Ijinkan: Sightseeing Itinerary for Kobe's Old Quarter | LIVE JAPAN travel guide".
  11. ^ Historic England. "Statue of Boar at North-east end of path to the Italian Garden (Grade II) (1119167)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  12. ^ Historic England. "Statue of Wild Boar and pedestal (Grade II*) (1172729)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  13. ^ "Statuary at St Mary's College, Durham". Archived from the original on 2016-05-05. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  14. ^ "Picture Perfect Places". Viansa Winery. Archived from the original on 27 August 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  15. ^ "Il Porcellino - Manhattan, NY". 12 January 2008. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  16. ^ "Il Porcellino - Lyndon Center, Vermont". 7 August 2008. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  17. ^ "Stone Tower Winery".
  18. ^ Translated by Charles Beckwith, London, 1846.
  19. ^ "Public Art Around the World". Archived from the original on 2015-05-03. Retrieved 2009-11-05.
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