Il Gobbo di Rialto

Sculpted by Pietro da Salò in the 16th century, the statue takes the form of a crouching, naked hunchback supporting a small flight of steps.

The statutes of Venice or the names of offenders would be proclaimed by an official standing on the block at the same time as they were read out at the Pietra del Bando near Piazza San Marco.

It was also used as the finishing point for a punishment for minor misdemeanours; the guilty party would be stripped naked and made to run the gauntlet of citizens lining the streets from Piazza San Marco to the Rialto, saving themselves further humiliation by kissing the statue.

The block above the hunchback's head now bears a Latin inscription with the year of the restoration: Lapis legibus reip[ublicae] edicendis, aere civico restitutus a[nno] MDCCCXXXVI.

In the 17th century, the Pasquino exchanged correspondence with Il Gobbo concerning the Republic of Venice, Pope Paul V and the writings of Cardinals Baronio and Bellarmino.