The Porter, Renaissance marble fountain in Via Lata, Rome, Italy
The Facchino is a marble fountain on Via Lata depicting a porter wearing a cap while holding a barrel. Water flows from the barrel's opening into a small basin positioned below the figure.
The statue was made around 1580 by Florentine sculptors to a design by Jacopo del Conte for the guild of water carriers. Gregory XIII had it installed on Via del Corso as a public drinking trough. In the 18th century it was moved onto the main facade of Palazzo De Carolis Simonetti, and in 1874 it was set into a window ledge on the side facing Via Lata.
The sculpture shows a water carrier who brought water from the Tiber to Romans before modern pipe systems arrived. This representation captures a crucial part of daily urban life that now exists only through such artworks.
The fountain is set into a window sill on the side facade of the Palazzo De Carolis Simonetti, facing Via Lata, a short walk from Piazza Venezia. Look up above street level to spot the figure and its basin. The spot is outdoors and always accessible, with no gate or ticket.
The face was struck by paving stones over the years because passers-by took the soft cap for a likeness of Martin Luther. The nose was lost and the features remain battered. When the statue was moved in 1874, the original shell-shaped basin and the marble frame around it disappeared as well.
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