Statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni by Andrea del Verrocchio, cast by Alessandro Leopardi
Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Castello
Venice, October 2012
“The campo also contains the only equestrian monument ever erected by La Serenissima. The rider, Bartolomeo Colleoni, served Venice well as a condottiere, or mercenary commander—the Venetians preferred to pay others to fight for them on land. When he died in 1475, he left his fortune to the city on the condition that a statue be erected in his honor ‘in the piazza before San Marco.’ The Republic's shrewd administrators coveted Colleoni's ducats but had no intention of honoring anyone, no matter how valorous, with a statue in Piazza San Marco. So they collected the money, commissioned a statue by Florentine sculptor Andrea del Verrocchio (1435-88), and put it up before the Scuola Grande di San Marco.” (Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Fodor's Venice Sights)
The only equestrian statue? That's incredible. It's beautiful.
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This is a really incredible photo.
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A horseman on the rooftops.
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