History Walks in Venice

List of statues in public spaces in Venice

The lack of statues celebrating the great men and women in Venice struck me as I realised that there is only one such statue for the entire period of the Venetian Republic. Consequently I drew up a list of such statues in Venice.

There are of course other statues, but they’re not dedicated to named individuals, or they’re not in public spaces.

Daniele Manin (1868) in Campo Manin (San Marco)
— Leader of the Venetian insurrection in 1848-49 against the Austrians (1804-57).
Nicolò Tommaseo (1882) in Campo Santo Stefano (San Marco)
— Linguist, writer and politician (1802-74).
Carlo Goldoni (1883) in Campo San Bartolomeo (San Marco)
— Venetian playwright, librettist and lawyer (1707-93).
Vittorio Emanuele II (1887) in Riva degli Schiavoni (Castello)
— first king of the united Kingdom of Italy (1820-78)
Giuseppe Garibaldi (1887) in Viale Garibaldi (Castello)
— Italian patriot, general and a central figure of the Risorgimento (1807-82).
Paolo Sarpi (1892) in Campo Santa Fosca (Cannaregio)
— Venetian theologist and historian (1552-1623).

Statues in Venice from the late 1800s

Riccardo Selvatico (1903)
— Venetian writer, poet and politician (1849-1901)
Francesco Querini (1905)
— Italian explorer, descendant of the Venetian aristocratic family (1867-1900)
Richard Wagner (1908)
— German composer, director and poet (1813-83)
Giuseppe Verdi (1909)
— Italian composer and politician (1813-1901)
Giosuè Carducci (1910)
— Italian poet, writer and critic (1835-1907)
Gustavo Modena (1910)
— Italian actor (1803-1861)
Guglielmo Oberdan (1921)
— Italian irredentist from Trieste, executed by the Austrian-Hungarian empire (1858-82).
Pier Luigi Penzo (1932)
— Venetian and Italian aviator and WWI hero (1896-1928)
Giorgio Emo di Capodilista (1960)
— Italian general and politician, descendent of the Venetian Emo family (1864-1940)

The statues in the Giardini Pubblici

elCelio ??

May 27, 2023

@infoDuring the Venetian Republic there was a law that in the city there shouldn't be statues of real people, in order to downplay the contribution of single individuals in respect of the Republic.the only exception has been for condoottiero Bartolomeo Colleoni, because he made the request for a statue during his lifetime and then, in his will, he left a lot of money and possessions to the Republic of Venice, on the condition that the Republic would have built a statue of him in the city.