The whale rib hanging by a chain from the Arco della Costa between Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza dei Signori in Verona, Veneto, Italy, here seen in silhouette, has mysterious origins, amid theories it was either a talisman against evil, a souvenir from the Crusades or an apothecary’s eye-catching shop sign. According to local legend, the bone will drop on the first honest and truthful person to walk under the arch. Amazingly, it has never fallen.
Verona, Veneto, Italy: mystery surrounds the reason why a whale rib (here seen in silhouette against swirling, wispy cloud) hangs from an iron chain below the arch separating Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza dei Signori – although there has never been a shortage of theories and claims about it. The Arco della Costa (Arch of the Rib) is a walkway linking the Domus Nova judges’ residence to the Palazzo della Ragione, Verona’s tribunal or courthouse. Some people believed the rib was a talisman protecting against evil, while others claimed it was not a whale rib, but a fossil unearthed in the Lessini Mountains – perhaps from a prehistoric marine reptile such as an Ichthyosaurus. Other theories propose that the rib was brought back to Verona either by Crusaders returning from the Holy Land, or by veterans of the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. The Crusaders might have hung it up as an ex-voto offering to give thanks for their safe return. Yet another superstition centres on the belief that the mysterious whale rib will drop on the first honest, truthful and just person to walk beneath the arch. Surprisingly, it always stays securely in place. The final hypothesis – while the most mundane – is perhaps the most believable. In this version, the whale rib was an advertisement or shop sign for an apothecary with premises directly under the arch. Piazza delle Erbe, built on Verona’s ancient Roman forum, was a busy and crowded market place and the apothecary might have needed an unusual and eye-catching sign to attract customers. Interestingly, the pharmacy that replaced the apothecary’s shop is said to be the rib’s legal owner. The only certainty in the whole story is that the rib seems to have hung under the arch since at least the early 1700s, when it featured in a painting of Piazza delle Erbe. It does not appear in any earlier artworks.
Size: 2832px × 4256px
Location: Verona, Veneto, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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