Curiosity
URBAN SATIRE: ROME’S TALKING STATUES THE STORY OF ROME’S CONGREGATION OF WITS AND PASQUINADES Andy Devane
T
he tradition of Rome’s talking statues dates back to the early 16th century when the city’s residents vented their discontent against the oppressive power of the papacy with anonymous epigrams and satirical verses poking fun at religious and civil authorities. These irreverent notes, affixed to statues at night to avoid the authors getting caught, were read with hilarity by passersby the next morning before being removed.
irreverent custom. Roman poets and thinkers soon began to use Pasquino to publish their own caustic verses which were hugely popular and led to the term “pasquinade”.
Stendhal noted on his visit to Rome in 1816: “what the people of Rome desire above all else is a chance to show their strong contempt for the powers that control their destiny, and to laugh at their expense.” The best known of Rome’s talking statues is Pasquino, near Piazza Navona, which remains in use to this day and is regularly plastered with political messages and even small advertisements. However there are five other statue parlanti among the so-called “Congregation of Wits”. Pasquino Located in the piazza of the same name since 1501, this damaged statue is part of a marble group representing Menaleus with the body of Patroclus, a copy of a Hellenistic work. The statue fragment dates to the third century BC and probably came from the Stadium of Domitian in what is today Piazza Navona. The tradition of using the statue as a noticeboard dates back to 1508 when church officials draped it in a toga and covered it with Latin epigrams to mark the feast of S. Marco on 25 April. The statue’s name can be traced to a local tailor called Pasquino who is credited with starting the 14 | March 2022 • Wanted in Rome
Pasquino, still in use, can be found near Piazza Navona. Photo credit: NoyanYalcin / Shutterstock.com.
