Among all this dark stonework one is conscious now and then of little pink touches which examination shows to be the feet of reposing pigeons.
Above is the parapet with the four famous golden horses in the midst; above them in the architrave over the central recess is S.Mark's lion with the open book against a background of starred blue.

Then angels mounting to Christ, and on each side pinnacled saints.

It is all rather barbaric, very much of a medley, and unforgettable in its total effect.
Two mysteries the facade holds for me.

One is the black space behind the horses, which seems so cowardly an evasion of responsibility on the part of artists and architects for many years, as it was there when Gentile Bellini painted his Santa Croce miracle; and the other is the identity of the two little grotesque figures with a jug, one towards each end of the parapet over the door.

No book tells me who they are, and no Venetian seems to know.