The Mouth of Truth
La Bocca della Verità, known in English as the Mouth of Truth, is one of the most interesting sculptures in Rome. It is a huge Pavonazzo marble image that weighs more than 2800 pounds. It’s pretty much a disc carved with a face of a man with its mouth, nostrils and eyes wide open.
During ancient times, the marble disc was used as a great way of finding whether a person is telling the truth or not. It was more like a lie detector of the modern days. People who had committed or were accused of committing iniquitous acts such as adultery and perjury were being brought in front of the mammoth disc. They would be asked to take oath and have to place their hand inside the open mouth while they answer the questions of the executioner. It was believed that if a person is telling the truth, the disc would never move a muscle. However, if the person was telling a lie, the mouth would close and then cut off the hand of that person.