In the 11th century, Pope Nicholas I gave birth to the tradition of placing a rooster-shaped weather vane on the bell tower of every Christian church, a clear reference to the Gospel of Mark regarding the betrayal of the disciple Peter: «Truly I say to you: you today, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times."
The weather vanes soon became a symbol of distinction of power and command, such that the installation was regulated by a series of edicts and only the most prestigious buildings belonging to a certain rank could boast of them.
At the time of the Municipalities, even the richest mercantile bourgeoisie was allowed to use weather vanes and therefore they soon became an emblem of belonging to a high social status.
During the Renaissance the iconography was enriched with even fantastic animals such as griffins and chimeras.
Only in the seventeenth century did the large landowners of non-noble origins rebel against the prohibition on installing weather vanes: they were in fact fundamental for survival in order to be able to draw summary weather forecasts through the direction of the wind, even though they were still prohibited with rather severe penalties. for those who did not respect these prohibitions.

Federico del Campo, Meeting at the Well, Venice, 1881