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Overview
Piazza Erbe largely coincides with the forum of the Roman city, situated between the main urban streets, namely the decumanus maximus (Corso Santa Anastasia) and the cardo maximus (Via Cappello). The forum had as its backdrop the large building of the Capitolium, where today stands the 18th-century Palazzo Maffei (the ancient ruins can be seen in the undergrounds). The square remained over the centuries the center of the city, especially for the market, but also for public ceremonies and executions of the condemned.
In 1368, Cansignorio della Scala, lord of Verona, placed the fountain called Madonna Verona, equipped with a large red marble basin. The centerpiece of the fountain is a headless female statue of Roman age, to which a head was added to become the allegory of civic power. The figure holds a scroll with the motto of the medieval Comune: «est iusti latrix Urbs / haec et laudis amatrix» (“This City is dispenser of justice and lover of praise”).
On the bulb, there are four heads: one represents Verona crowned, as a royal city; the other three depict an emperor Verus Antoninus Pius, as a presumed ancient founder (the name is not clearly identifiable, evoking a bit Marcus Aurelius and a bit Antoninus Pius) and the medieval rulers Alboin, king of the Lombards, and Berengar I, king of Italy and emperor, who were buried in Verona.
The large column in the square that supports the Lion of Saint Mark was instead created by the architect Michele Leoni in 1523, to celebrate the city’s return to the Republic of Venice after the brief period of imperial rule.
