You heard right – these fountains did not think very highly of the papacy back around the 15th century, when the pope was not only the religious ruler but also gained the authority of king. Whenever the citizens of Rome disagreed with this pope-king’s decision, which was quite often, they would voice their opinions on sheets of paper. The opinions were then attached to various statues throughout the city; hence the name “talking statues”. Sometimes the opinions were expressed through poetry, and most times the authors were people who were close to the pope and who actually knew the truth.
The first and one of the most famous talking statues, Pasquino, sits near the Piazza Navona in the Piazza di Pasquino. It was used for political and religious reasons, and not surprisingly, it is still used for these purposes in 2008. It is pretty common to catch a note full of gossip or a poem attached to the statue. When Pope Adrianus VI tried to monitor what was placed on Pasquino, more and more talking statues began popping up all over Rome and his problem actually became worse. The “second Pasquino” (as seen above) was a statue of a river-god at the bottom of Capitol Hill. Formally, it was known as Marforio and it frequently held “conversations” with Pasquino. I remember looking at this massive fountain the other day whe
n we visited the Capitol museums as a class, and I had no idea that it was one of the talking statues. It is said to be held inside the Palazzo Nuovo di Campidoglio for preservation purposes, but many believe that it is held there against its will under the close watch of the government. One thing is for sure though, an ancient tradition carried out centuries ago is still being performed in today's world.
Some of this information was taken from:
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