Skip to content

Hidden corners

The head without a nose

The porphyry head known as ’il Carmagnola’ on the terrace balustrade: the crown is still there, the nose is not
The porphyry head known as ’il Carmagnola’ on the terrace balustrade: the crown is still there, the nose is not Photo: Ktiv, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

A head of red porphyry, little bigger than a football, with the crown still on its head and the nose broken off: Venetians have called it ’il Carmagnola’ for centuries. The pupils were inlaid with glass paste, the hair and eyes painted: it must have looked alive. The name is not its own: it belongs to a man who came to a bad end down below.

Nearby

All places in Venice