Piazzetta di San Marco
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"...the sea breeze passed between the twin columns of the Piazzetta, the lintels of a door no longer guarded, as gently as if a rich curtain were swaying there." Henry James
The Piazzetta di San Marco is the open space to the south of the Basilica. It is flanked by the Palazzo Ducale and the Libreria Sansoviniana. The south end of the piazzetta is marked by two ancient granite columns. On one stands a bronze statue (4th-3rd century BCE?) of a winged lion with its paws resting on an open book (Saint Mark's Gospel), while on the other column stands (a copy of) Saint Theodore and his dragon. The lion, winged or otherwise, is displayed throughout the city, for it is the symbol of Saint Mark the Evangelist, the patron saint of Venice. But Mark hasn't always enjoyed this role; Venice's original patron was Theodore, a Greek saint, who is now largely forgotten. The two columns (there were originally three, but one fell into the lagoon where it remains to this day) were brought back from the east in the 12th century and for years they lay on the quayside, as no one in Venice knew how to set them up. During the reign of Doge Sebastiano Ziani (1172-8) the columns were finally erected by Nicolò Barattiero, an engineer who, in return for this service, asked for the right to set up gambling booths in the space between the columns. One of the games which was played was baratto, hence the engineer's name. However, there was a sting in the tail for the enterprising engineer when the Venetian authorities decided to use the same space for public executions. The bases of the columns are decorated with carvings, which depict the crafts of local tradesmen. Sadly, the carvings have deteriorated badly over time and are now hard to make out. |
Piazzetta di San Marco
Lion of Saint Mark
San Todaro (Saint Theodore)
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