World Art Utopia

Il Porcellino

Bronze wild boar Il Porcellino sitting on its base outside Sydney Hospital on Macquarie Street, its snout rubbed to bright gold
Artwork FileSydney, Australia

Il Porcellino

SeenJan 2021

After Pietro Tacca · 1968 · Sydney

Photo: Maksym Kozlenko (CC BY-SA 4.0), 2021-01-08. Resized, full frame.

Sydney Hospital’s Il Porcellino is a bronze replica of Pietro Tacca’s Florentine boar. Installed in 1968, it combines a snout-rubbing tradition with donations that support the hospital. Source Source Source Reported

Seen Jan 2021 — evidence dated 2021-01-08. The dated source does not establish present condition. Source Checked

💡 4 things to know

  1. A Florentine replicaThe Sydney sculpture reproduces Pietro Tacca’s famous bronze boar in Florence. Source Checked
  2. A hospital memorialIt commemorates Thomas and Piero Fiaschi, who worked as honorary surgeons at Sydney Hospital. Source Checked
  3. Wishes fund careAt the sculpture’s 50th-anniversary celebrations, the health district reported that donations had exceeded A$500,000. Source Reported
  4. Conserved in 2016International Conservation Services cleaned and treated the bronze, sandstone base and plaques. Source Checked

📍 Where it is

Sydney Hospital, Macquarie Street · Sydney, Australia Source Checked

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🗓️ Sightings

  1. 1968

    Installed at Sydney Hospital

  2. 2016

    Bronze, sandstone base and plaques conserved

  3. 2018

    Health district reports the sculpture’s 50th-anniversary celebration

  4. 20218 Jan

    Boar photographed outside Sydney Hospital

Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.

✅ The facts

Model
After Pietro Tacca’s Il Porcellino in Florence Source Checked
Installed
1968 Source Checked
Material
Bronze Source Checked
Location
Sydney Hospital, Macquarie Street Source Checked
Memorial
Thomas and Piero Fiaschi Source Checked
Visitor ritual
Donate a coin through the mouth, then rub the snout for good luck Source Reported
Conservation
Treated in 2016 Source Checked

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Last checked: 29 October 2026. How we verify art