Rub Il Porcellino's nose

And rub the "Il Porcellino" nose for good luck!

Originally intended for the Boboli Garden, then moved in the Mercato Nuovo in Florence, Italy. the statue was placed originally facing east, in via Calimala, in front of the Farmacia del Cinghiale, which is the proper italian noun for Boar. To ensure more space to the traffic it was later moved in the side facing south, where it still stands as one of the most popular spots for tourists.

Unfortunately, the present statue is only a copy, while the original is sheltered in the new Museo Bardini, opened recently.

Il Porcellino was sculpted and cast by Baroque master Pietro Tacca (1577 –1640) in 1612, following a marble Italian copy of a Hellenistic marble original, at the time in the Grand Ducal collections and today in display in the classical section of the Uffizi Museum. He changed the base of the simple Greek statue by adding a pool surrounded by plants, snakes, frogs and turtles.

In 1962, five copies of Tacca's sculpture were cast by the Florence foundry, Fonderia Ferdinando Marinelli, for public display. They were later found in
* University of Waterloo- Faculty of Arts- Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
>> donated to the university in 1978
* Sydney Hospital - Sydney, NSW, Australia
>> I caught sight of it accidentally.
* Butchart Gardens - Victoria, BC, Canada
* R.W. Norton Art Gallery - Shreveport, LA
and here in Florentine.. Mercato Nuovo (New Market)

As it remains one of Europe's significant art works, where copies from miniatures to full size, may be purchased from The Galleria Frilli Via dei Fossi 29, 50123 Firenze, Italy, it is possible that thousands of copies of this boar, in varying sizes, exist in private collections throughout the world including

* Viansa Winery - Sonoma, CA, USA
* Lyndon Center - Lyndon, VT, USA
* Sutton Park - New York, NY, USA
* University of Arkansas campus - Fayetteville, AR, USA
* Derby Arboretum - Derby, Great Britain
* In front of the Deutschen Jagd- und Fischereimuseum,- Munich, Germany
* The Great Escape and Splashwater Kingdom amusement park at Queensbury, NY. Just inside the entrance.
* Place Richelme, Aix-en-Provence, France
* Museum of Outdoor Arts - Englewood, CO

Visitors to Il Porcellino put a coin into the gaping boar's jaws with the intent to let it fall through the underlying grating for good luck and rub the boar's snout to ensure a return to Firenze, a tradition that has kept the snout in a state of polished sheen while the rest of the boar's body has dulled to a brownish-green colour.

Collected money is given for beneficence.

As the Florentine Little Pig is found in the Mercato Nuovo (New Market), thus it does follows opening times which
* From November to March, it opens from 9:00am to 7:30pm and closes Monday;
* From March to November, it opens until 7:00pm.

Address:
Mercato Nuovo (New Market) or Mercato del Porcellino or Loggiato del Porcellino
Via Porta Rossa and Via Calimala.
Note: it used to sell many articles in straw ("paglia") which was how the market got its name.

How to go: Coming north from the Ponte Vecchio taking the Via por Santa Maria the market is on your left side in Calimala