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Bocca della Verità

Bocca della Verità is an ancient marble mask of pavonazzetto marble placed in the wall of the pronaos of the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome. It is about 1.75 meters in diameter and shows a bearded male face with perforated, hollow eyes, nose, and mouth. Its original meaning and function are uncertain: it may have represented Neptune, and it may once have served as a fountain, a compluvium outlet, or even a sewer opening. The sculpture became famous through medieval and later legends about truth-telling and ordeals, and it has long been one of Rome’s curiosities.

Bocca della Verità stone mask with a bearded face and open mouth on a pedestal
The Bocca della Verità displayed on a pedestal inside Santa Maria in Cosmedin Church.
September 2020 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Bocca della Verità stone face with a wide open mouth and weathered surface
The Bocca della Verità, a weathered stone face with a wide open mouth, displayed on a pedestal.
October 2025 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Bocca della Verità stone mask with a man placing his hand in the mouth beside a woman covering her face
The Bocca della Verità as a man inserts his hand into the stone mouth while a woman stands beside him.
1953 © · Public domain
Bocca della Verità stone face replica with wide-open eyes and a gaping mouth, shown on a textured pedestal with a Japanese sign above it.
A stone replica of Bocca della Verità with a bearded face and open mouth, displayed outdoors with a Japanese information panel above.
© · CC BY 3.0
Engraving of a woman kneeling before a seated ruler and placing her hand in a lion\'s mouth, with a jester and another man watching.
An engraving showing a woman swearing her innocence before Bocca della Verità by placing her hand in a lion’s mouth.
© Rijksmuseum · CC0

Identification

TitleBocca della Verità
NamesThe Mouth of Truth; La Boca de la verdad; A Boca da Verdade; Вуста правди
TypeAncient Roman marble mask relief (mascherone)

Historical context

DateUnknown; some sources leave the date incomplete, while one fragment dates it to the 4th century BC

Creator

AttributionUnknown

Materials

MaterialPavonazzetto marble (also called Phrygian marble; marble from Dokimeion in Phrygia, now the Phrygian Valley near İscehisar)

Physical characteristics

FormRound stone disc / mask-like medallion
SizeAbout 1.75 m in diameter; 19 cm thick
WeightAbout 1,200–1,300 kg
ConditionVery worn and heavily eroded
FeaturesBearded male face with drilled, hollow eyes, nostrils, and mouth; five holes through the disc, including two for the eyes, one for the mouth, two for the nostrils, and two mounting holes at the sides
Decorative detailTwo crab claws are present among the hair

Iconography and meaning

Depicted figureUncertain; proposed identifications include Oceanus, Triton, Pontus, Neptune, Jupiter Ammon, a faun, or a deity associated with the sea
InterpretationThe crab claws among the hair have been taken as evidence that the figure is a sea god

Discovery and provenance

Removal and relocationProbably removed from the temple in the 13th century and later moved to Santa Maria in Cosmedin; in 1631–1632 it was placed inside the church portico by order of Pope Urban VIII Barberini
Ancient contextThe temple had an oculus like the Pantheon, so rain could enter inside
Temple contextAssociated with the nearby Temple of Hercules Victor / Temple of Hercules in the Forum Boarium
Original functionUncertain; proposed uses include a fountain face, part of a fountain, an impluvium or compluvium outlet, a drain cover, a sewer manhole cover, or a cover for a water drain at the nearby Temple of Hercules Victor
Alternative useOne theory says cattle merchants used it to drain the blood of cattle sacrificed to Hercules

Location and ownership

Current locationAgainst the left wall of the portico / pronaos of the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome, Italy, at Piazza della Bocca della Verità on the Forum Boarium site
Current placementSet vertically into the wall

History and restoration

Church contextSanta Maria in Cosmedin was built over an ancient temple of Hercules in Rome
Church wall setting date1632

Significance

Popular useIt continues to attract many visitors who insert their hands into the mouth
Literary referencesJosé Marzo's historical novel La boca de la verdad; Robert Silverberg's novella Nightwings; a work by Rindert Kromhout; Lucas van Leyden's Power of Women woodcut series; a related drawing by Albrecht Altdorfer and Renaissance paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder
Film associationRoman Holiday made the sculpture internationally famous; the scene with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck uses the legend as a test of fidelity
Film appearancesRoman Holiday (1953); Only You (1994); Sleeping Bride (2000)
LegendSince the Middle Ages it has been believed to bite off the hand of a liar who places a hand in its mouth, or anyone who lies with their hand inside it; it was also used in stories about unfaithful wives and husbands
Later fameFrom 1485 on, it was frequently mentioned among the curiosities of Rome and reproduced in drawings, prints, postcards, and sculptures
Name historyThe name 'Bocca della Verità' appears in 1485
Literary and legendary associationsA 12th-century German text links it to Julian the Apostate, with the devil posing as Mercury; later medieval legends also attributed its making to Virgil Maro Grammaticus
Medieval mentionPresumed to be the object mentioned in the 11th-century Mirabilia Urbis Romae, where it was said to pronounce oracles
ReputationAn ancient and legendary curiosity of Rome

Other

Related objects and reproductionsThere are replicas and derivative works, including a full-size reproduction at Alta Vista Gardens in California, a sculpture by Jules Blanchard in Paris's Luxembourg Garden, and coin-operated fortune teller machines inspired by the Mouth of Truth, including one in the Musée Mécanique in San Francisco