Guess the Artwork

La Bocca della Verità - The Mouth of Truth, in pavonazzo marble and located since the 17th century in the portico of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome.

It represents a bearded man-like face which portrays one of several possible pagan figures, a faun, an oracle, Giove Ammone or Oceanus.
The sculpture is thought to have been part of an ancient fountain or possibly a manhole cover, considering that in Ancient Rome manholes often represented river related deity with their mouth open ready to take in the water. This would also explain why most people in Rome believe that la Bocca della Verità represents the ancient god of the river Tiber.
 
The mystery and legends about this ancient mask go back to the eleventh century  when it was  described as having the power of an oracle in the Mirabilia Urbis Romae (the first guide of Rome for medieval pilgrims): "Ad sanctam Mariam in Fontana, templum Fauni; quod simulacrum locutum est Iuliano et decepit eum" ("In the church of Santa Maria Fontana you find the temple of faun;  the statue spoke to Julian and deceived him") .
 
The most legendary characteristic of the Bocca della Verità, however, is its role as a lie detector. Since the Middle Ages, it was believed that if one told a lie with one's hand in the mouth of the sculpture, it would be bitten off. 

The sculpture reached international fame also thanks to  its appearance in the 1953 film Roman Holiday. The film also uses the Mouth of Truth as a storytelling device since both Hepburn's and Peck's characters are not initially truthful with each other. Today, most tourists visiting Rome stop to take a picture with their hand in "la Bocca della Verità", which has now become one of the symbols of the city. 

 

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