I was taking the picture above when a nice homeless man suggested I pay more attention to the base of the monument rather than to the statue that laughs at every passerby. The body of a puppet lying helpless at the feet of Pinocchio transformed into a child.
A phrase of the poet and writer Antonio Negri written on the stone says: “How ridiculous I was as a puppet, and you looking at me are you sure to have tamed the puppets living in you?” Reading it made me think. Very effective idea.
A shame that the statue is a canvas for some vandals. In fact, the statue was recently renovated. Until then, the monument to Pinocchio was in a really bad condition. The statue of the cat was gone and he had only the imprints of the feet, the nose of the puppet had been broken, the fountain closed, the tub was falling apart.
The homeless man told me about children playing around the pool every afternoon, loving that Pinocchio. Maybe it’s just the romantic thought of a man who feels alone.