Porcellino

I happen to love New York's outdoor city sculpture. It's always a little moment of 'ahh' when you're moving through these canyon's of steel and cement, something to make you smile.
Some of my favorites are "Peter Pan" in Carl Schurz Park, "Balto" in Central Park, and "Eleanor Roosevelt" in Riverside Park, they're all unexpected and charming when you happen upon them.
And now my new favorite is the statue in little Sutton Place Park across the street from new building.

It's called "Porcellino", a replica of the bronze fountain completed in 1634 by Renaissance sculptor Pietro Tacca (1557-1640) that stands in the Uffizi Museum in Florence, Italy. The name means "little pig" even though it's a boar.

"Porcellino" in Sutton Place Park

A closeup of the proud pig

Another replica stands in a Florence market and is a popular tourist attraction. Visitors to this Porcellino put a coin into the boar's jaws hoping to let it fall through the underlying grating for good luck (the caught money goes to charity), they then rub the boar's snout to ensure a return to Florence. All of this has kept the snout in a constant state of polished sheen over the years.

"Porcelllino" in Florence, Italy marketplace

I rub the snout of the Manhattan Porcellino every time I visit the park now, just wishing that my damn renovation would start on the apartment!