Il Gobbo di Rialto or the Hunchback of the Rialto is a granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

 statue

Statue

A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...

 of a hunchback

Kyphosis

Kyphosis , also called roundback or Kelso's hunchback, is a condition of over-curvature of the thoracic vertebrae...

 found opposite the Church of San Giacomo di Rialto

San Giacomo di Rialto

San Giacomo di Rialto is a church in the sestiere of San Polo, Venice, northern Italy. It is believed to be the oldest church in the city, supposedly consecrated in the year 421. It survived a fire in the Rialto in the early 16th century. It is notable for the large 15th century clock above the...

 at the end of the Rialto

Rialto

The Rialto is and has been for many centuries the financial and commercial centre of Venice. It is an area of the San Polo sestiere of Venice, Italy, also known for its markets and for the Rialto Bridge across the Grand Canal....

 in Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

.

Sculpted by Pietro da Salò in the 16th century, it takes the form of a crouching, naked hunchback supporting a small flight of steps. According to the writings of Stefano Magno it was unveiled on 16 November 1541 and was used as a podium for official proclamations: 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 Pietra del Bando near Piazza San Marco

Piazza San Marco

Piazza San Marco , is the principal public square of Venice, Italy, where it is generally known just as "the Piazza". All other urban spaces in the city are called "campi"...

. 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. By the 19th century, time had taken its toll on the statue and, in 1836, it was restored with funds provided by the civic authorities. The block above the hunchback's head now bears a Latin inscription with the date of the restoration.

It is said to communicate with the Pasquino, one of the talking statues of Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

. From the early 16th century the Pasquino, a statue of a torso, was used as an agent for critical commentaries against the Pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

 and the authorities: satirical

Satire

Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...

 notes would be attached anonymously to the base of the statue purporting to come from the Pasquino himself. Other statues in Rome would be used to fulfill a similar purpose and establish a dialogue. In the 17th century the Pasquino exchanged correspondence with Il Gobbo concerning the Republic of Venice

Republic of Venice

The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...

, Pope Paul V

Pope Paul V

-Theology:Paul met with Galileo Galilei in 1616 after Cardinal Bellarmine had, on his orders, warned Galileo not to hold or defend the heliocentric ideas of Copernicus. Whether there was also an order not to teach those ideas in any way has been a matter for controversy...

 and the writings of Cardinals Baronio

Caesar Baronius

Cesare Baronio was an Italian Cardinal and ecclesiastical historian...

 and Bellarmino

Robert Bellarmine

Robert Bellarmine was an Italian Jesuit and a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was one of the most important figures in the Counter-Reformation...

.

The characters of Launcelot Gobbo and his father, Old Gobbo, in William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

's The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...

may been inspired by this traditional symbol of the Rialto.