Loggia del Mercato Nuovo

New Market Lodge

Housing the Porcellino market

Description

Underneath the Loggia del Porcellino, the marble wheel can be found which commemorates the place where the carroccio was left, an emblem of the Florentine Republic. In medieval times it was used as a pillory for those who dared to dupe the merchants of the city. The Loggia was the work of G.B. del Tasso who built it in the middle of the 16th century as a market place for the sale of fabrics and objects of different kinds. Today the Loggia also houses a market, mainly for tourists. Leather bags, silk scarves, straw hats and other art and craft objects can be found there. The Porcellino is the boar which is part of the fountain on one side of the market. This bronze sculpture was made by Pietro Tacca at the beginning of the 17th century after a marble original of the Hellenistic period (on show at the Uffizi).