{"id":89,"date":"2020-04-13T14:21:33","date_gmt":"2020-04-13T14:21:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/?page_id=89"},"modified":"2020-10-23T12:55:25","modified_gmt":"2020-10-23T12:55:25","slug":"stones-from-the-interior-of-the-lions-mouth-venice-italy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/the-reeve-bequest\/1887-trip-to-italy\/stones-from-the-interior-of-the-lions-mouth-venice-italy\/","title":{"rendered":"Stones from the Interior of the Lion&#8217;s Mouth &#8211;  Venice, Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/2020-03-13-10.19.43-web-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"522\" data-link=\"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/the-reeve-bequest\/1887-trip-to-italy\/stones-from-the-interior-of-the-lions-mouth-venice-italy\/2020-03-13-10-19-43-web\/\" class=\"wp-image-522\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/2020-03-13-10.19.43-web-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/2020-03-13-10.19.43-web-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/2020-03-13-10.19.43-web-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/2020-03-13-10.19.43-web-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/2020-03-13-10.19.43-web-1x1.jpg 1w, https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/2020-03-13-10.19.43-web-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/2020-03-13-10.18.52-web-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"523\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/2020-03-13-10.18.52-web-scaled.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/the-reeve-bequest\/1887-trip-to-italy\/stones-from-the-interior-of-the-lions-mouth-venice-italy\/2020-03-13-10-18-52-web\/\" class=\"wp-image-523\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/2020-03-13-10.18.52-web-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/2020-03-13-10.18.52-web-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/2020-03-13-10.18.52-web-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/2020-03-13-10.18.52-web-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/2020-03-13-10.18.52-web-1x1.jpg 1w, https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/2020-03-13-10.18.52-web-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>BM #: 1948-64-119<\/li><li>Place Acquired: Venice, Italy (45\u00b026&#8217;13.67&#8243; N 12\u00b019&#8217;57.54&#8243; E)<\/li><li>Date Acquired: February 1887<\/li><li>Material: Stone<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Reeve acquired the Stones from the interior of the Lion\u2019s Mouth letterboxes during a period of great international travel to Venice or the \u201cfloating city.\u201d These stones are symbols of Venetian political and social strife during the early 14<sup>th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reeve visited Venice in the 1880s along with many wealthy Europeans and Americans. Venice became a popular tourist destination during this time due to its unique physical environment and history as an Italian trading superpower. Venice became well known throughout the world with many artifacts being taken out of Italy and spread throughout Europe and the Americas. Artifacts similar to the stones Reeve collected were being circulated throughout the world as international travel became more popular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The city of Venice is located on the Northeastern coast of Italy. Due to its close proximity to the coast, the city is famous for the flooding of its streets. Given the nickname, \u201cthe floating city,\u201d many of Venice\u2019s streets are covered in water and require gondolas or small man powered boats to get around. Venice has been a city on the Italian peninsula since the 6<sup>th<\/sup> century CE and because of this has a vast political history. It was during the early 14<sup>th<\/sup> century that the Council of Ten was set up by Doge Pietro Gradenigo, the Head of State (Blue Guide: Venice, 2007, p380). The Council of Ten was originally introduced as a temporary group that would investigate treason within the Venetian government and put down any political or social upheavals caused by the public. In 1455, the Council became the permanent spy and intelligence agency. They ultimately remained the main political body until 1797 (Britannica, 2020).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 14<sup>th<\/sup> century in Venice was one of great political tension as new groups came into power, such as the Council of Ten. Soon both the actions and words of the Venetian public were severely restricted. Those that opposed the Venetian government could be reported to the government for punishment through letterboxes. At first reports could be done anonymously, but as the Council gained more power witnesses had to give their names when reporting another citizen (FCPA. 2018). The letterboxes were used to maintain public order and were scattered throughout the streets of Venice. Large lions heads were carved into the city walls or into large pieces of stone and inserted within the city walls. People could literally put letters into the mouths of the lions anonymously giving up the names of citizens that committed espionage or treason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lion\u2019s Mouths letterboxes were carved pieces of stone that were made to look like lions. The mouths of the lions were open to allow people to insert letters into them. The canister Reeve brought back from Venice contained three different sized and colored stones. There are two smaller stones that appear grey or darker in color and one larger stone that is much lighter. The Lion\u2019s Mouth letterboxes are found throughout the city of Venice between the 14<sup>th<\/sup> and 18<sup>th<\/sup> centuries (1310-1797) and are synonymous with Venice\u2019s \u201creign of terror.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1023\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/8064790267_2101fed602_b.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-396\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/8064790267_2101fed602_b.jpg 1023w, https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/8064790267_2101fed602_b-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/8064790267_2101fed602_b-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/8064790267_2101fed602_b-1x1.jpg 1w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1023px) 100vw, 1023px\" \/><figcaption>City of Venice Canals<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"575\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/1024px-Doges_Palace_2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-397\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/1024px-Doges_Palace_2.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/1024px-Doges_Palace_2-300x168.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/1024px-Doges_Palace_2-768x431.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/1024px-Doges_Palace_2-1x1.jpg 1w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Doge&#8217;s Palace Venice, Italy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"478\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/49280176491_962cbbfc73.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-399\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/49280176491_962cbbfc73.jpg 478w, https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/49280176491_962cbbfc73-287x300.jpg 287w, https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/49280176491_962cbbfc73-1x1.jpg 1w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 478px) 100vw, 478px\" \/><figcaption>Bocca de Leone or &#8220;Lion&#8217;s Mouth Letterbox&#8221; from Venice, Italy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">For Further Reading:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Sotheby\u2019s. 2016.<em> &#8220;<\/em>Into the Lions\u2019 Mouth: The Dark Truth Behind Venice\u2019s Secret Postboxes.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.venicesothebysrealty.com\/lions-mouth-dark-truth-behind-venices-secret-postboxes\/\">https:\/\/www.venicesothebysrealty.com\/lions-mouth-dark-truth-behind-venices-secret-postboxes\/<\/a><\/li><li>Ferraro, Joanne M. 2012.<em> Venice: History of the Floating City. <\/em>Cambridge University Press.<\/li><li>Simmel, Georg.<em> &#8220;Venice.&#8221; <\/em>Theory, Culture &amp; Society 24, no. 7-8 (2007): 42-46.<\/li><li>Britannica. 2020. \u201cCouncil of Ten: Venetian Political Organization.\u201d Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Council-of-Ten-Venetian-political-organization\">https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Council-of-Ten-Venetian-political-organization<\/a>.<\/li><li>Macadam, Alta. 2007. <em>Blue Guide: Venice<\/em>. London: Blue Guides Limited. Eighth edition.<\/li><li>FCPA Compliance &amp; Ethics. 2018. \u201cCompliance Lessons From Venice: How the Lion\u2019s Mouth Informs Your Internal Reporting.\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/fcpacompliancereport.com\/2018\/11\/compliance-lessons-venice-lions-mouth-informs-hotline\/\">http:\/\/fcpacompliancereport.com\/2018\/11\/compliance-lessons-venice-lions-mouth-informs-hotline\/<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BM #: 1948-64-119 Place Acquired: Venice, Italy (45\u00b026&#8217;13.67&#8243; N 12\u00b019&#8217;57.54&#8243; E) Date Acquired: February 1887 Material: Stone Reeve acquired the Stones from the interior of the Lion\u2019s Mouth letterboxes during a period of great international travel to Venice or the \u201cfloating city.\u201d These stones are symbols of Venetian political and social strife during the early [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"parent":419,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"full-width.php","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-89","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/89","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/89\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":524,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/89\/revisions\/524"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/bakermuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}