Porta della Carta

Between St. Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace stands the Porta della Carta, the ceremonial gateway into the palace and one of the most elaborate surviving examples of Venetian Gothic sculpture. Carved marble figures of the Virtues flank the entrance, and above the cornice, a relief of Doge Francesco Foscari kneels before the Lion of St. Mark -- a 19th-century replacement for the original, destroyed after the fall of the Republic.

Passing through the gate itself requires a Doge's Palace ticket, and it now functions as the museum's exit rather than its entrance -- so standing in the opening to photograph it obstructs a one-way flow of people leaving. The facade is best photographed from out in the Piazzetta, where nothing is blocked.

Piazza San Marco and the Piazzetta are the lowest ground in Venice and flood first during acqua alta; the raised walkways laid across them at those times are narrow and one-way in practice, and stopping on them to look up at the gate holds up everyone behind.

The Porta della Carta's carved facade is freely visible at any time from the Piazzetta San Marco, between St. Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace. Passing through the gate itself, however, requires a paid ticket to the Doge's Palace -- today it functions mainly as an exit point from the palace's visitor route rather than the main entrance.

The facade is outdoors and freely visible at any hour, and it faces roughly west -- so the carving reads best in the afternoon, when raking light picks out the canopies and the Virtues. In flat midday light the detail flattens against the marble.

The Piazzetta is at its most congested between mid-morning and late afternoon, when cruise arrivals and tour groups funnel through it. Early morning gives an unobstructed view of the whole gate from a distance, which is the only way to see the composition entire.