Columns of Piazza dei Signori

On the short side of Piazza dei Signori, two columns bearing the Lion of St Mark and the Statue of the Redeemer rise up. Huge monolithic shafts extracted from the Chiampo quarries form an optical wall that appropriately delimits the area of the square.

At the north-eastern apex is the column of the Lion, whose shaft - quarried in 1444 - was transported in December 1446, taking advantage of the hardness of the roads, on a special wagon, pulled by 30 oxen and with the assistance of 200 men. Entering the city in January 1447 through the Porta del Castello, the shaft was, however, not raised until 27 October 1464, with the help of five winches, each operated by 16 porters.

When the paving of the square was lowered (1808-1809), a plinth was added under the pedestal. In the panels of the plinth are inscriptions commemorating the Podestà and captains involved in the undertaking.

In the base and also in the capital, there are coats of arms - originally gilded - of Vicenza and other podestà and captains. Between the leaves of the capital we see the coat of arms of podestà Alvise Balbi, from the hand of Lorenzo Rubini. The first Marcian lion, hoisted on the column on 15 February 1473 by Tommaso Formenton, was knocked down on 6 June 1509 by imperial troops during the turmoil of the war of the League of Cambrai and reduced to pieces by Ambrogio da Milano. Venetian rule was re-established and the imperial eagle that had replaced the Lion was removed.

The new Lion was placed on the column on 30 March 1520 and immediately gilded. Removed after the French invasion and put away - mutilated of the tail and with broken legs - in the courtyard of the Palazzo del Territorio, the Lion could finally be returned to its place, in May 1863, after being restored by Giuseppe Groggia. The last restoration, in the 1950s, repaired the severe damage from the bombing of 18 March 1945.

At the south-west summit is the Redeemer column: although its pedestal had been prepared since 1445, one of its first shafts, extracted in 1444, remained in the Chiampo quarries until it was decided to transport it in October 1625. This shaft having broken on the way, the new one that would replace it was transported to Vicenza in the autumn of a few years later and was erected on 10 September 1640 by Antonio Pizzocaro.

The inscription on the apex of the shaft recalls the event and that on the plinth of the base the name of Pizzocaro; on the capital is the coat of arms of podestà Giorgio Emo, promoter of the enterprise. On the pedestal is the coat of arms of Vicenza.

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Columns of Piazza dei Signori

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