Fontana del Porcellino, Florence

The Porcellino is a fountain with a boar at its heart, standing beside the Loggia del Mercato Nuovo. Its familiar Florentine nickname means “Piglet,” although the animal represented is a wounded wild boar. The figure was made by Pietro Tacca, with the work completed around 1633, and it follows a marble model connected after its discovery with the Calydonian Boar of Greek mythology.

Look at the animal’s muzzle: its smooth sheen comes from the tradition of rubbing it for luck and hoping to return to Florence. As local tradition has it, you can also place a coin in the open jaws and hope it slips through the grate below; that is meant to bring good fortune. The fountain you see is a replacement made in 1998 by the Ferdinando Marinelli artistic foundry, while Tacca’s original is preserved at the Museo Stefano Bardini.

The fountain has changed position before reaching this setting: it was moved here in 1928 to make passage along Via Por Santa Maria easier. Its worn snout tells the story most vividly—a ritual repeated by generations of visitors has polished that small area, while the rest of the animal carries a deeper aged surface.