of diamonds and wounds, venice

Photograph from my journey to Italy: A <> Sir, discovered in June 2009, Venice














Sir, I must have that diamond from you.--
There, take it.
--Shakespeare, Comedy of Errors, Act v

The Scuola Grande Di San Rocco, or the Confraternity of St. Roch, was built in Venice in the early 16th century. Saint Roch, or Rocco, or Rock was expelled from his healing mission in the town of Piacenza, and withdrew into the forest, where he made himself a hut of boughs and leaves. He would have died, if a dog had not come to him, supplying him with bread and licking his wounds, healing them. He is usually represented in the garb of a pilgrim, lifting his tunic to demonstrate the wound in his thigh.