Today we find ourselves in Piazza della Bocca della Verita, under the portico of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, in front of the mask of stone that gives the name to the square.
The Mouth of Truth, as you all know, is one of the most famous symbols of Rome in the world. Sure, Rome also has other symbols for tourists, such as the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, St. Peter’s … but the Mouth of Truth for us is special. In fact, while the above-mentioned symbols are justly famous works of art, monuments itself, the Mouth of Truth holds up his celebrity in the world with practically only the legend that accompanies it.
This then raises the question of how important the imagination and tradition in defining the essence of things.
The question that arises is: what was it this big mask of almost two meters in diameter? Well, nobody knows for sure … what is certain is that every day we see a long line of tourists waiting patiently for their turn to have their photo taken with the famous hand in mouth, perhaps would not do it if they knew that one of the The most credible hypothesis is that the mask was the manhole of a sewer!
It must be admitted, however, that is not the only hypothesis: some say it was the cover of the sacred well of the temple of Mercury, where the ancient Roman traders swore their honesty during a sale and at which purified themselves for their perjury . A confirmation of this hypothesis is the famous medieval legend that says that if you tell a lie while holding his hand in the mouth of the mask, the mask magically “bites”, so cropping the hand of liar.
But a beautiful legend also states that the capacity of the “Mouth of Truth” to expose the liars once it did not work … and this is thanks to the astuteness of a donna.Il people in fact knew that a girl cheating on her husband. When the news reached the ears of the spouse, he decided to assess the sincerity of his wife from the “test” of our mask. It is said that, in addition, behind the Mouth of Truth was hidden, as often happened, a murderer, ready to “help” the magic of the mask with a sword in case of falsehood.
While the woman in the parade with her husband, proceeded toward the mask into the crowd of people who had gathered for the occasion, lover, already agreed with the adulteress, feigning madness, came up to the woman and the ‘ embraced and kissed her passionately. Since the act of a poor fool, as reckless, it was immediately forgiven. But the gesture allowed the woman to be able to say, with his hand in the Mouth of Truth:
“Never nessun’uomo kissed me, except my husband and the poor guy a little while ago.”
The woman had indeed told the truth … and the people he knew … that the hand of the adulteress was not cut, and the Mouth of Truth was so, for the first time in history, “cheated”.
Morality for men to fit a woman, not even enough for the magic.