Bocca Della Verita in Rome, Dec. 2003

La Bocca della Verità (English, The Mouth of Truth) is a famous sculpted image of a human face in Rome, Italy. The sculpture is thought to be part of an ancient Roman fountain or perhaps a "manhole" cover, portraying a river god.

The most famous characteristic of the Mouth, however, is its capability of act as lie detector. Starting from the Middle Ages, it was believed that if one told a lie with his hand in the mouth of the sculpture then it would be bitten off. Bocca was placed in the portico of the Santa Maria in Cosmedin church in the 17th century.

The Mouth of Truth is most popularly known for its appearance in the 1953 Audrey Hepburn-Gregory Peck film Roman Holiday. In the film, Hepburn (playing a princess) and Peck (playing a reporter) visit The Mouth of Truth and Peck relates the legend. He challenges Hepburn to place her hand inside the mouth, which she does with no ill effects. She then asks Peck to do the same and when he does he yells and pulls his arm out to reveal his hand is missing! Hepburn's shriek on seeing this is not acting as Peck had pulled a practical joke on her on camera by pulling his arm inside his sleeve. Peck ends the joke by popping his hand out into a handshake position and going "Hello!" Hepburn, relieved, breaks into laughter. The joke was incorporated into the film. The film also uses The Mouth of Truth as a storytelling device since both Hepburn's and Peck's characters are not initially truthful with each other.

The Mouth of Truth is also featured in the popular Gamecube game Animal Crossing. In the game, the player is capable of obtaining The Mouth of Truth as a gift through Gulliver the Seagull.

Electronic coin-operated reproductions of the Mouth are found in fairgrounds of Spain.

Text from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bocca_della_Verità