Ready to race

Venice, Italy

"Not all gondolas have cavalli, but almost all Venice-built ones do, and even some built elsewhere are adorned with these beautiful brass sculptures.

Many gondoliers feel that a gondola without cavalli is "naked".

Cavalli often take the horse, or "hippocampus" form, but some are cast as angels, sirens, and sea-creatures. They also come in different sizes and levels of detail. Small ones can weigh less than a pound, while the more impressive and showy ones can tip the scale at more than 30 pounds.

And while all cavalli are not created equal, they are also not all finished the same either - there are highly polished cavalli, nickel-plated ones, and of course the gold-plated ones."

www.gondolagreg.com/2010_03_01_archive.html

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