Lion of Venice Lion of Venice The Lion of Venice is an ancient bronze winged lion sculpture in the Piazza San Marco of Venice, Italy, which came to symbolize the city — as well as one of its patron saints, St Mark — after its arrival there in the 12th century. The sculpture surmounts one of two large granite columns in the Square, thought to have been erected between 1172 - 1177 during the reign of Doge Sebastiano Ziani or about 1268, bearing ancient symbols of the two patron saints of Venice. The "Lion" sculpture has had a very long and obscure history,
Saint Nicholas in Glory Saint Nicholas in Glory Saint Nicholas in Glory is an altarpiece painting by Italian Renaissance artist Lorenzo Lotto, executed in 1527-1529 and located in the church of Santa Maria dei Carmini, Venice. An inscription at the altar's base reports that the canvas was commissioned in 1527 by the "guardiano" (curator of the church) Giovanni Battista Donati and his vicar Giorgio de' Mundis. They chose Nicholas because of their membership in a merchants' brotherhood, which was dedicated to that saint. A frame in Istrian stone had already been prepared before the work's execution. This was Lotto's first work after his return