In Venice there's plenty of referrals to classical myths. During the Republic of Venice the representation of gods and episodes from myth in public places did not only decorate them: every character and myth had a part in the complex expression of values and features of the state of Venice, like the dominion on the sea, justice, success in war and trade, wealth, and so on. It's quite peculiar that Venetian Republic used to call itself 'the most religious' (but it actually was the first state who claimed for itself censorship, heresy persecution and other usually attributed to church matters, as a claim of independence from the Pontiff's state) but used pagan myths to represent its values.
It's not easy to show all mythological representation in Venice, not to explain their complex meaning, so this page is actually under construction. At the bottom of it there's the photo gallery.
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The Arsenal was actually one of the most important places in Venice, which was so proud of its dominion over the seas. The main gate is surrounded by statues of ancient gods, each of whom represents a feature of the Republic. It was built in the 15th century after the victory against the Turks, but the statues have been added at the end of 17th century (1682). We can't actually identify all the statues; beside the door there are also two statues of lions that came from Athens as war chest: one has a runic inscription on its side, made in the 11th century, the other may be as old as 6th century. To name the statues as you can read in the photo gallery, we used what Giulio Lorenzetti says in Venezia e il suo estuario, Lint, 1974.
If Venice used plenty of classical myths to represent its values and importance, could there be a better place to show them than Piazza S. Marco?
At the bottom of the Campanile, there's Jacopo Sansovino's Loggetta (small lobby), with four bronze statues of gods around it: Apollo, Mercury, Minerva, and the Peace, all representing allegories of the virtues celebrated by the republic of Venice. Some disciples of Sansovino's made the basreliefs of the lobby: here we can see two gods, Jupiter and Venus, meaning the rule of Venice on the isles of Candia (Venetian name for Crete) and Cyprus.
From the top of Sansovino's libreria, a whole olympus watches over Venice: the statues are works by several venetian artists who worked with Jacopo Sansovino, like Tiziano Minio, Tommaso and Girolamo Lombardo, Bartolomeo Ammanati, Alessandro Vittoria, and Danese Cattaneo. The statues represent Apollo, Jupiter, Mars, Minerva (or maybe Bellona, Mercury, a godess with the wall crown, another goddess whose identity is not clear, Saturn, Venus. Even the lower part of the archways in the cloister of the Libreria are decorated with several myhtological episodes.
In the yard of the former mint, today the Marciana National Library, there was a well curb with a statue of Apollo on the top, which today can be seen in Ca' Pesaro (the Museum of contemporary art) courtyard.
Two statues of Hercules, one fighting with Cerberus, the other with the Nemean Lion, stand beside the door of the music academy.
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