Equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni

In Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo, a bronze condottiere sits astride a powerful horse, permanently poised to charge -- the equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni, one of the great sculptural achievements of the early Renaissance. Andrea del Verrocchio designed it, Alessandro Leopardi cast and completed it after Verrocchio's death, and the result has influenced equestrian monuments across Europe ever since.

The Scuola Grande di San Marco behind the monument is not a museum but the entrance to the Ospedale Civile, Venice's main hospital -- ambulance boats moor on the canal alongside the campo and patients and staff cross it constantly. Keeping clear of the water entrance and the doors, rather than treating the whole square as a viewing platform, matters more here than at a monument standing on its own.

The bronze is unprotected at ground level. Its lower pedestal is not a bench or a backrest, and climbing on it is the one visitor behaviour the square's own signage discourages.

The statue stands in the open air in Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo, free to view at any time, alongside the basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo and the Scuola Grande di San Marco. It's a short walk from the Fondamente Nove vaporetto stop and a common stop on the way toward Murano-bound boats.

The statue is outdoors, unenclosed and free, so there is no schedule to work around -- only light. Morning sun comes from across the canal on the southern side and catches the horse's flank and the rider's face; by late afternoon the group is largely in shadow from the buildings on the west side of the campo.

The campo is a working square rather than a monument plaza, and it is busiest in the morning, when the adjoining hospital and the surrounding streets are at their most active. Early morning and evening are the quietest times to see it without foot traffic crossing the view.