Statue of Fra (Brother) Paolo Sarpi by Emilio Marsili, 1892
Campo Santa Fosca, Cannaregio
Venice, September 2013
“On October 5, 1607 Sarpi was attacked by assassins and left for dead with fifteen stiletto thrusts, but he recovered. His attackers found both refuge and a welcome reception in the papal territories (described by a contemporary as a ‘triumphal march’), and papal enthusiasm for the assassins only cooled after learning that Brother Sarpi was not dead after all. The leader of the assassins, Poma, declared that he had attempted the murder for religious reasons. ‘Agnosco stylum Curiae Romanae,’ Sarpi himself said, when his surgeon commented on the ragged and inartistic character of the wounds. Sarpi's would-be assassins settled in Rome, and were eventually granted a pension by the viceroy of Naples, Pedro Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna.” (Paolo Sarpi, Wikipedia)
A statue standing more than a decade !
ReplyDeleteFascinating story and beautiful sculpture.
ReplyDeleteFra Sarpi is well-captured here... with balding head, thin, sharply-etched face. I'd guess that is pretty much what in looked like in life. It's an excellent sculpture.
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