The Fountain of Bacchino in Florence, Italy

The Boboli Gardens in Florence are certainly not lacking in sculptures. There are no fewer than 288 pieces here, mostly created between the 16th and 18th centuries. The park is part of the Italian World Heritage Site (“Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany”) and a major attraction for the roughly 4 million tourists who visit the city every year.

Most of these statues showcase ideal figures in line with their respective cultural eras: youths with theatrically outstretched arms, warriors in dramatic combat, women in seductive poses or showing maternal affection to a child. The bodies are slender, muscular, and defined—even those of older figures.

One sculpture, however, stands in diametric opposition to this classical fiction: located at the northeastern end and exit of the park is the Bacchus Fountain (Fontana di Bacchino). Sitting atop a large Moorish turtle that spews water from its mouth is a stark-naked, overweight little man, looking proudly to his right and holding out his right hand in a defensive gesture. His body is massive compared to the length of his limbs. Beneath his heavy belly sits the dwarf’s “best piece,” which forms the exact center of the sculpture and appears rather disproportionate. While the depiction of male genitalia was common in Renaissance plastic arts, this emphasis on his manhood is, without a doubt, a deliberately used comedic element. Thanks to this curious contrast to normality, the grotesque sculpture is world-famous and is sold as a miniature to tourists in Florence.

Depicted in this potentially degrading pose is a real-life historical figure: Nano Morgante, the famous court dwarf of the Medici from the reign of Cosimo I to Ferdinando I. He lived from roughly 1530 to 1584, and his real name was Braccio di Bartolo. He suffered from chondrodystrophy, a genetic form of dwarfism where abnormalities in cartilage and bone formation result in short arms and legs combined with a normal torso and a disproportionately large head. Even his nickname, “Dwarf Morgante,” was ironic: Morgante was actually a giant from a popular epic poem of the time by Luigi Pulci.

However, di Bartolo must have been highly intelligent, as well as humorous, quick-witted, and diplomatic. He was highly esteemed as the favorite court jester and served as a close advisor to Cosimo I. The Grand Duke granted him personal freedoms, his own income, and even land ownership.

In 1560, Cosimo I de’ Medici commissioned the Florentine sculptor Valerio Cioli to create the work. Nano Morgante’s significance is evident in the fact that he repeatedly appears as a comedic or allegorical element in various paintings and sculptures of the Florentine Renaissance. Furthermore, the lightheartedness and humor of the Bacchus Fountain embody Cosimo I de’ Medici’s life motto: Festina lente—Make haste slowly.