Talk:Bocca della Verità

Has someone dared you to prove that you are perfectly sincere? Then go to the portico of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, in Piazza della Bocca della Verità, between Piazza Venezia and the Tiber Island. Insert your hand in the mouth of truth located on the left, and repeat what you have been accused of lying about. If you are guilty, your hand will be neatly chopped off; if what you said is true, you will have irrefutable evidence of your good faith. According to tradition, the mouth of truth was really used in the Middle Ages to discourage liars, who were punished by a sword wielded behind the wall. On one particular occasion, so legend has it, the trial of the mouth of truth was imposed on a woman of aristocratic rank, accused by her husband of adultery. The crowd parted to allow the outraged woman to reach the great stone mask, when suddenly a young man rushed forward and kissed her passionately. Faced with the crowd's anger, he justified his action by claiming that he could not resist offering one last Christian tribute to the poor woman, who was certainly innocent. The woman herself placed her hand in the slit of the stone face and declared: "I swear no man but my husband and the youth who just kissed me, has ever touched me!". As she was able to retrieve her hand, her innocence was proven and she was acquitted. Cunning and artfulness of the Roman woman who was kissed by her lover in public!

Popular culture
"The Mouth of Truth is known to English-speaking audiences mostly from its appearance in the 1953 film Roman Holiday." Why only english-speaking audiences?? The movie is known all over the world... --Anna.roma2 (talk) 09:09, 21 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Added the jojo reference
 * 07jay (talk) 18:47, 29 March 2024 (UTC)

Also note that the mouth of truth was featured in Jojo's bizarre adventure part 2. Relevant because it is a popular manga and anime.

Size
How big is it? How much does it weigh? The movie still makes it look huge, the sculpture makes it look the size of a dinner plate. Which is it? Dan East (talk) 01:38, 27 May 2012 (UTC)

History
When was it made? and so on.