Hunchback of the Rialto
"Il Gobbo di Rialto (the Hunchback of the Rialto) is a marble statue of a hunchback found opposite the church of San Giacomo di Rialto at the end of the Rialto in Venice. Sculpted by Pietro da Salò in 1541, the statue presents a crouching, naked hunchback supporting a small flight of steps. It was used as a podium for official proclamations.
In the Middle Ages it was also the finishing point for punishment for thieves and other minor offenders; the guilty party would be stripped naked (other sources only mention that they were barefoot) and made to run the gauntlet between two rows of citizens lining the streets from Piazza San Marco to Rialto, who whipped and insulted them. Exhausted, humiliated, they were happy that the ordeal was over, and embraced and kissed the statue.
By the 19th century, time had taken its toll on the statue. In 1836, it was restored with funds provided by the civic authorities.
It is said to communicate with the Pasquino, one of the talking statues of Rome. From the early 16th century, the Pasquino, a statue of a torso, was used as an agent for critical commentaries against the pope and the authorities. Satirical notes would be attached anonymously to the base of the statue purporting to come from the Pasquino himself. Other statues in Rome would be used to fulfill a similar purpose and establish a dialogue. In the 17th century, the Pasquino exchanged correspondence with Il Gobbo concerning the Republic of Venice, Pope Paul V and the writings of Cardinals Baronio and Bellarmino."
Venice. 2014
Hunchback of the Rialto
"Il Gobbo di Rialto (the Hunchback of the Rialto) is a marble statue of a hunchback found opposite the church of San Giacomo di Rialto at the end of the Rialto in Venice. Sculpted by Pietro da Salò in 1541, the statue presents a crouching, naked hunchback supporting a small flight of steps. It was used as a podium for official proclamations.
In the Middle Ages it was also the finishing point for punishment for thieves and other minor offenders; the guilty party would be stripped naked (other sources only mention that they were barefoot) and made to run the gauntlet between two rows of citizens lining the streets from Piazza San Marco to Rialto, who whipped and insulted them. Exhausted, humiliated, they were happy that the ordeal was over, and embraced and kissed the statue.
By the 19th century, time had taken its toll on the statue. In 1836, it was restored with funds provided by the civic authorities.
It is said to communicate with the Pasquino, one of the talking statues of Rome. From the early 16th century, the Pasquino, a statue of a torso, was used as an agent for critical commentaries against the pope and the authorities. Satirical notes would be attached anonymously to the base of the statue purporting to come from the Pasquino himself. Other statues in Rome would be used to fulfill a similar purpose and establish a dialogue. In the 17th century, the Pasquino exchanged correspondence with Il Gobbo concerning the Republic of Venice, Pope Paul V and the writings of Cardinals Baronio and Bellarmino."
Venice. 2014