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Mouth-of-truth.jpg
Mouth-of-truth.jpg
The Mouth of Truth
La Bocca della Verità (Italian, the Mouth of Truth) is a river god that used to be a drain cover, but since the Middle ages, has served as a lie detector.
It was believed that if one told a lie with his or her hand in the mouth of this god, it would be bitten off. Of course it had to be helped sometimes by a servant with a blade. The Bocca was placed in the portico of the Santa Maria in Cosmedin church in Rome, Italy in the 17th century.
The sculpture is thought to be part of a Roman fountain or perhaps a "manhole" cover.
See also
- Roman Holiday (1953 movie)
Official Homepage (http://www.dpsusa.com/bocca_verita_history.shtml)de:Bocca della Verità it:Bocca della Verità (Roma) sv:Bocca della Verità