The Three Moors
Last Visited: 2013
The Three Moors were, according to tradition, the three Mastelli brothers who came from the Morea (the area of Greece now known as the Peloponnese).
They were silk merchants who came to Venice in 1112 and built the Palazzo Mastelli, a rather grubby and neglected looking Gothic building on the Rio Madonna dellʼOrto with a fine carving of a camel.
A Moor
Fondamenta dei Mori
Statues of two of the brothers can be found in the Campo dei Mori, whilst the third is round the corner on the facade of Tintorettoʼs House. Each sports a large turban that seems to have been added to the original sculpture.
On the corner is another statue to which a rusty iron nose was added in the nineteenth century. It is of "Signor Antonio Rioba", a Venetian figure of fun.