Poor nobleman, who had to beg for money, or sell his vote in the Maggior Consiglio.
“Povero in Mascara” (Beggar in mask) from the Gli abiti de veneziani (1754) by Giovanni Grevembroch, translated by René Seindal.
The Venetian nobles were in principle all equals, but in practice there were differences within the nobility, and even important inequalities.