BOCCA DELLA VERITÀ official web site HOME BOCCA DELLA VERITA MOUTH OF TRUTH BOCA DE LA VERDAD MUND DER WARHEIT BOUCHE DE LA VERITE BOCCA DELLA VERITÀ and the BOCCA DELLA VERITÀ round face logo are registered trade marks of DPS-Promatic srl

Bocca della Verità Pictures

The real Bocca della Verità in the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome Click to enlarge The Bocca della Verità fortune teller designed and manufactured by DPS-Promatic in Italy Click to enlarge Details of the sculpture from which it appears that the Bocca della Verità is a mask of the God Oceanus. F is a fish; C (left and right) appear not to be horns but rather crab claws or head of dolphins; T could be dolphins or even the testicles of the God Uranus, thrown by Kronos into the Ocean; too worn to be easily recognizable More details in the Mouth of Truth history page... Click to enlarge Details of the sculpture from which it appears that the Bocca della Verità was fixed somewhere by means of 2 holes, one each side, at middle height. This could prove the thesis that says the Bocca della Verita' was standing upright, as it is now, may be in a fountain or an Ara. More details in the Mouth of Truth history page... Click to enlarge Example of a bronze mask of the God Oceanus, with 2 dolphins as horns and 2 fishes hidden in the beard. Description: Roman Boss with Head of Oceanus, 1st-2nd century A.D., The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Christina N. and Swan J. Turnblad Memorial Fund. More info.. Click to enlarge Fragment of a mosaic exhibited in Bardo museum in Tunis representing the God Oceanus. It is clearly visible that the horn is a part of a crab or shrimp. Click to enlarge The church of santa Maria in Cosmedin, where the Mouth of Truth is located Click to enlarge The area of the old Foro Boario, as can be seen in front of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin under whose porch the Mouth of Truth is located Click to enlarge This is map of the area where the Mouth of truth is located, that once was the Foro Boario. (B) is the location of the Bocca della Verità; (C) is the point where the CLOACA MAXIMA flows into the river TEVERE. Somebody wrote that the bocca della verita' was a drain cover letting rain flow into the Cloaca. The idea came from a verse of the Roman poet Properzio, found by Visconti: quum subito Triton ore recondit aquam, meaning that after the rain the mouth of a triton hides the water. For many reasons I don't think this is the case for the Mouth of Truth... Other interesting monuments on the Foro Boario: (7) Temple of Hercules Victor; (6) Temple of Portunus. Interesting monuments on the Isola Tiberina: (3) Church of S.Bartolomeo (built upon the temple of Aesculapius); (2) Church of S.Giovanni (built upon the temple of Jupiter Jurarius) Click to enlarge The Mouth of truth has been for a long time outside, beside the wall of the church. It was put below the front porch by the Canonico (the priest in charge of the Church) Placidi in 1632. Click to enlarge In 1715 Giovan Mario Crescimbeni wrote a History of the Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin, that is the church where the Bocca della Verita' lays. This is a picture I found in his book. Click to enlarge The most popular legend about the Mouth of Truth is about its power to retain or cut the hand of who would not say the truth. In the middle ages this legend was expecially true for adulterous women. This old picture is a representation of how an ingenious woman tricked the Mouth of truth. Click to enlarge My wife Rita and me (Massimo Portolani) in front of the Bocca della Verita' Click to enlarge

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