#talking statues

Have you heard of Rome's talking statues? These ancient statues were commonly used as a kind of bulletin board, for poetry and protests. The best-known is Pasquino (near Piazza Navona), who's still "talking" today.

Then there's Madama Lucrezia (near Piazza Venezia), who may have originally represented the goddess Isis, or the empress Faustina. Il Facchino (near Via del Corso) carries a barrel of water.

A slew of famous voices are bringing 10 of Dublin’s best-known monuments alive

“Tommy” and “The Reading Girl” - This is like Six Degrees of Separation. What do Sir Patrick Stewart and Jenna Coleman have in common?

According to a 2014 article in The Guardian, both actors have lent their voices to “talking statues” in the U.K. Evidently, passersby can now hover their smart phones over the statues and, seconds later, receive a phone call from the statue in question. Stewart voices “Tommy”, the statue of an unknown WWI soldier in London's Paddington Station, while Jenna portrays the “reading girl” outside the Manchester Central Library. Here’s more about Jenna’s marble child:

Here is a sample of Jenna’s monologue.