Francesco Battalia, the Stone Eater, 17th century. Born in Rome with three stones in his hands, he lived on a diet of stones and red wine. Performed in London at Bartholomew Fair and depicted by Wenceslaus Hollar, 1641. Lithograph after a stipple engraving by Robert Cooper from Henry Wilson and James Caulfield’s Book of Wonderful Characters, Memoirs and Anecdotes, of Remarkable and Eccentric Persons in all ages and countries, John Cmden Hotten, Piccadilly, London, 1869.


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Photo credit: © Florilegius / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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