Head known as of Carmagnola

The image of Carmagnola is associated with a red porphyry head which is in the open gallery of the church, set on the pillar in the south-west corner of the balustrade.
This head severed at the base of the neck may have been intended as an admonishment.

Francesco Bussone, known as Carmagnola, captain general of the Serenissima, was decapitated in 1432, found guilty of betrayal and connivance with the enemy, Filippo Maria Visconti. The accusation was unjust for a captain who had dedicated his military skill to Venice. In accordance with the custom his head had to remain on view to the public, giving rise to a popular and long lasting legend.

Actually, the porphyry head, brought back from the sack of Constantinople during the 4th Crusade of 1204, was long the subject of studies and discussions aimed at historical identification of the person represented. More or less life size (40 centimetres high) there is a hole in the upper part of the head which must have been for fixing it to the wall. The large eyes framed with arched eyebrows once had vitreous paste pupils, and the dense ornamentation of the crown imitates settings of precious stones and gold plate. It was taken for granted that the person was a sovereign of the late Empire, not only because of the facial traits and the crown but also because porphyry was used almost exclusively for imperial portraits. The problem was to identify which one of the many between the 4th and 8th centuries.

Various suggestions have been put forward. The theory given most credit today - based on comparison with the sovereign's gold coins minted between 534 and 538 at the Mint of Constantinople and with mosaics in the basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna - is that it is the head of Justinian I, last emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, who reigned from 527 to 565.
As for where it came from, many scholars have suggested that it might have been taken by the Venetians from the Philadelphion, the square in Constantinople.

Picture of the head known as of Carmagnola

Head known as "of Carmagnola"
Red Egyptian porphiry