Tetrarchs, St Mark's Basilica, Venice, Italy
2 Augusti from the statue of the 4 Tetrarchs, sculptural group in porphyry, c. 300 AD, originally in the Philadelphion in Constantinople and moved to Venice in the 13th century, on the corner of the facade of St Mark's Basilica or the Basilica San Marco, Venice, Italy. The Roman Emperor Diocletian set up the Tetrarchy in 293 AD. Behind is the statue of the Allegory of Fortitude, one of the 4 Virtues, on the Porta della Carta, built 1438-42 by Bartolomeo and Giovanni Bon, the entrance to the courtyard of the Doge's Palace or Palazzo Ducale. The city of Venice is an archipelago of 117 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges, in the Venetian Lagoon. The historical centre of Venice is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Picture by Manuel Cohen
