Black and White Photography | Rome Photos | Simon Griffee » Statues & Sculptures

Frieze Element Detail

admin — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 16:36:40 +0000

Floral detailing of a heavy marble frieze lying near the ruins of the Temple of Saturn in the Roman Forum.

Bocca della Verità, Visitor

admin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:50:21 +0000

Someone approaches the “Mouth of Truth”, a sculpture of a human face carved from Pavonazzetto marble, thought to be part of a 1st century Roman fountain portraying pagan gods. Legend has it that if you tell a lie while your hand is in the Bocca della Verità’s mouth it will bite it off!

Il Babbuino

admin — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:24:18 +0000

Il Babbuino, or ‘The Baboon’, one of the ‘talking statues’ of Rome on which the populace traditionally post satirical inscriptions and graffiti criticizing the government and public figures. The statue is an ancient depiction of Silenus.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your point of view, the wall behind Il Babbuino has recently been painted with a special paint which makes it difficult to post signs and graffiti behind the statue, as has traditionally happened in the past.

Imp. Caesari Nervae F. Traiano

admin — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 11:09:06 +0000

The statue of Imperatore Caesari Nervae F. Traiano surrounded by locals out for a stroll on a rainy Sunday in Via dei Fori Imperiali.

Giordano Bruno

admin — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:54:58 +0000

The statue of Giordano Bruno, often thought of as a martyr for free thinking, freedom of speech and modern scientific ideas. He was burned at the stake as a heretic by the Roman Inquisition near Campo de’ Fiori, where his statue by Ettore Ferrari was erected facing the Vatican.

An interesting property of this photograph: if you stand back and look at it, a circle around the statue’s head formed by the clouds in the background becomes prominent.