The More Things Change…, Venice

This plaque appears on a wall of the Doge’s Palace in Venice. Though Google translate comes up with a decidedly odd translation of the Italian – or is it Latin? – inscription from several hundred years ago, it seems clear that the plaque marks the spot of an office dedicated to investigating and rooting out tax cheats. It is no doubt just coincidence if anything about the sign or the lovely bas-relief of the head of the man has a contemporary ring to it.