English version below!
🇪🇸¿Qué conexión tiene la Fuente de los Dioscuros en Roma con las estatuas parlantes?
En 1588, cuando el Papa Sixto V ordenó levantar la estatua parlante de Marforio del Foro Romano, donde ésta se encontraba, para su nueva y definitiva ubicación en la Colina Capitolina, una enorme vasija con la inscripción “Mars in Foro” fue encontrada bajo la estatua. La vasija de granito, conocida popularmente desde entonces como «La Tazza di Marforio» – La Taza de Marforio– fue trasladada al centro del Foro Romano como abrevadero para el mercado de animales que allí tenía lugar. En 1818, Pío VII decidió completar el conjunto formado por las dos estatuas y el obelisco egipcio añadiendo dicha vasija como fuente.
El espíritu de Marforio está vivo de alguna manera en esta impresionante fuente ¿La conocías?
📷Photo credits:
- Fountain of the Dioscuri with The Vessel of Marforio. Roma, 1941-1960. © ICCD Fotografía. Fondo Beccarini. Inventario CB001637.
- Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae: View of the Back of the Statues of the Dioscuri at the Quirinal. 1550. Engraving © The Met Museum.
- The statue of Marforio in the Capitoline Museums, 2017. © Estrella Torrico Cuadrado
The Vessel of Marforio
🇬🇧 What does the Fountain of the Dioscuri in Piazza del Quirinale Rome have to do with the talking statues?
In 1588, when Pope Sixtus V ordered to remove the talking statue of Marforio from its original location in the Roman Forum for placing it into the Capitoline Hill, an enormous vessel with the inscription «Mars in Foro» was found under the statue. The granite vessel, popularly known after that as «La Tazza di Marforio»-The Vessel of Marforio– served as a fountain in the middle of the Roman Forum to supply water for an animals’ market taking place there. In 1818, Pio VII decided to renovate the Fountain of the Dioscuri by adding «La Tazza di Marforio» to the statues and the Egyptian Obelisk. We can say that the spirit of Marforio is somehow alive in this impressive fountain.
I would love to read your comments, thoughts, or experiences with the Fountain of the Dioscuri!
*This is part of the research project that I am currently developing as a PhD student in Art History and Visual Culture at the University of Exeter focusing on the Italian Talking Statues’ phenomenon, its functioning, and dissemination from the Renaissance to the present day.