Thought this was just a random Gothic grotesque on the heavily elaborated facade of #WilliamPitt’s 1888-91 stock exchange, but reckon it’s the #WingedLionOfVenice, chosen as a suitably mercantile symbol for the grand #GothicRevival #MelbourneStockExchange -you can see M S E carved in the shield in #GothicScript. Another thing to note is the lions are looking sort of toward each other – that’s because the entrance was originally in the middle, moved to side in 1922 when the Exchange went bust, sold out to the #ESandAbank next door, and they expanded the chamber into this building; they must’ve created the #traceriedwindows from scratch ! And moved the stonework of the door to the right.
Storey of Melbourne 