Doge Giovanni Pesaro’s tomb in the nave of the Frari Church in Venice, designed by Baldassare Longhena in the 1660s, is a towering cascade of black and white marble, gilded skeletons, twisted columns, and heroic figures.
Supported by four gigantic Moors carved from dark stone, the tomb rises upward in increasingly ornate layers. Allegories, cherubs, and columns frame a statue of the Doge seated in state. The result is a masterpiece of Venetian Baroque style—flamboyant, theatrical, and filled with complex symbolism.