Pasquinade

   A pasquinade is a witty lampoon or squib, having ridicule for its object, written anonymously, and posted,for all to see, or a satire mocking someone that is published in a vehicle of general circulation. Anyone who pins up an unsigned note on the bulletin board, hoping the boss will see it, has posted a pasquinade. In 1501 in Rome a mutilated ancient statue was unearthed, restored, and placed near the Piazza Navona. Some say it was a statue of a Roman gladiator named Pasquino. Others contend that the statue was named after Pasquin, a barber noted for his caustic wit, whose shop was near the field where the statue was found. Whether the statue represented the ancient gladiator or the witty barber, it was called Pasquino. It became customary on St. Mark's Day for people to hang on the statue verses of their political, religious, and personal satires. These satires were barbed and often critical of the pope.

   From Pasquino came the Italian word pasquinata and the French pasquinade, which entered the-English language with no change in spelling. Unearthed at the opposite end of Rome was another statue, a figure of a recumbent god believed to be Mars. A custom then developed to answer the pasquinades by affixing replies to this statue, which was called Marforio.