Venice - Colleoni Monument

(Local Name: Monumento di Colleoni) The monument to Colleoni is a brilliant piece of work from the Venetian Renaissance. The model was made by Andrea Verocchil (1481-88) but it was cast in bronze by Alessandro Leopardi in 1496. The splendor of the plinth, with its marble reliefs, is taken up by the vigor of the equestrian figure, so that one balances the other in complete harmony. The figure itself bears no resemblance to the real Bartolomeo Colleoni (1400-75) but is an evocation of what the "condottier" should ideally look like - proud and conscious of his power.

Colleoni had commanded the land forces of the Republic, thus managing to amass a huge fortune. On his deathbed he bequeathed all his possessions