This photo shows a statue consisting of four men. It’s a corner statue, made to fit in the outside corner of a building. Originally, these represented the four emperors who took over the various parts of the Roman Empire when it was broken apart - Diocletian, Maximilian, Valerian, and Constance. And they were originally built for a building in Constantinople. The Venetians brought them back to Venice as spoils of war and installed them here. And they made up a legend to explain them. According to this legend, these are four moors who came to visit Venice, took one look at the magnificence that is San Marco and were turned to stone.... Venice, italy

Back