Moreover above the entrance to the temple [St Mark’s] there is a wide terrace in the open, in the middle of which can be seen from below four bronze and gilded horses set on little columns making a great show of themselves with such a motion and stride that all of them seem to be wanting to jump down into the square together. A rare and exceedingly ancient work – they were all made for the chariot of the sun – the skill of their construction is amazing. They are all similar to each other, so that you can find nothing in one unlike the others, yet such is their stance with neck and feet that although they strain forward in step together, their stride and movement are wholly dissimilar … It is said that they were brought from Constantinople as were almost all the precious marbles on the temple.

BERNARDO GIUSTINIANI, De origine urbis

Venetiarum, 1493