The Bronze Pig of Florence, Florence, Italy

I’m back in Florence studying Italian and my courses seems to be going better this time. I’m not confusing Italian and French anymore (at least during the first week). We rented a beautiful little apartment in a 15th century palazzo which has painted ceilings, huge windows, and terracotta floors. Florence is full of these wonderful old buildings and it’s such a pleasure to stay in one of them.

While I’m in Florence, I thought I’d take a break from writing about France and write about some of the curiosities of this city. Hope you enjoy the story of the Bronze Pig.

Il Porcellino, as the Italians call him, means “the little pig”. However the bronze porker fountain sitting at the side of the New Market, or Mercato Nuovo, is really a wild boar, or a cinghiale in Italian. He supposedly brings good luck when visitors rub his snout and put a coin in his mouth. If the water washes the coin from the pig’s mouth and it falls into the grate below, you will have good luck and you will be sure to return to Florence. If not, try again. The coins are used to support an orphanage.

The first bronze boar fountain was made in 1634 and rubbing the snout for good luck was mentioned as far back as the 1700s. The bronze statue was a copy of a Roman marble statue which was a gift from the Pope to the Medici in the 1560s. And that statue was a copy of a Greek statue from antiquity. The one we see today is a 20th century copy installed when the 1634 bronze was moved into a museum because his nose was wearing thin. The current one will also probably need to be replaced soon because his snout too is already wearing through. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).