It really is devastating to stand in front of this hopelessly sad, magnificently carved Winged Lion in the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice. This monument is dedicated to the great sculptor Antonio Canova (1757-1822) and houses just his heart. The Lion’s book is closed, a symbol of the wisdom of the artist that has been carried away, his tail wrapped around his body, his eyes unseeing. The figure beside him, an angel with open wings is the custodian of the soul passed to the sky.

The Winged Lion holding an open book, which says: “Pax tibi Marce Evangelista meus” – May Peace be with you, Mark my Evangelist – is found everywhere in Venice. Carved onto the outsides of buildings, above doorways, on walls, standing on top of pillars and stitched in glorious gold on the Venetian flag. The Lion with an open book represents the Republic of Venice itself.

The lion symbolizes majesty and the power of St Mark’s word, the wings symbolize spiritual elevation, while the book expresses wisdom and peace.

There is sometimes a sword of authority being held by the Lion as well. The Lion with an open Book and with the Sword raised represents the Justice of the Venetian Republic.

But sometimes the book is closed, which means hostility or war or in the case of the saddest lion on earth he seems to be just simply bereft and there is nothing good on earth any more.

This statue from 1438 of Doge Francesco Foscari kneeling in front of the magnificent winged lion representing Venice, seems to make it pretty clear that no man, even the Doge himself is bigger than La Serenissima, the Venetian Republic.

The Lion depicted full-faced with its wings circled around its head “in moleca” resembling the claws of a crab emerging from water, shows it is associated with the lagoon and the city, whereas the standing winged lion is thought to be more associated with Venetian territory around the Mediterranean.