The 36 capitals of the lower portico of the Doge’s Palace are true works of art, carved by master stonecutters.
The carvings depict trades, celestial bodies, vices, virtues, and sins.
One of the most remarkable capitals is the twenty-fourth, counting from the Bridge of Sighs.
It tells, through eight scenes, the symbolic story of two lovers:
In the first scene, the courtship from a balcony.
In the second, the two meet in person.
Then comes an exchange of gifts between them.
Another scene shows the lovers lying in bed together, followed by one where a child is born.
The child grows… but then dies prematurely, leaving the parents in visible despair.
The capital serves as a moral warning: do not lie together before marriage is consecrated before God.
The punishment for this act, according to the message, was the untimely death of their child.
