Colleoni left Venice 100,000 ducats for a statue of himself in Piazza San Marco; Venice took the money and put the statue in front of the Scuola di San Marco

Bartolomeo Colleoni was born around 1400 in Bergamo, which came under Venetian rule. He fought for Venice for more than 20 years and became very rich. He had no legitimate son and had eight daughters, legitimate and illegitimate. He dictated his will at his castle of Malpaga on 27 October 1475 and added a codicil on 31 October. The codicil left Venice 100,000 ducats, which the Dizionario Biografico describes as back pay Venice owed him, plus 10,000 ducats owed by Ercole d'Este. The money was to fund a war against the Turks and an equestrian statue of him in Piazza San Marco. He died on 2 November 1475. Three Venetian officials went to Malpaga. Of 230,000 ducats taken into custody and sent to Venice, only a small part reached his heirs, and most of the proceeds from his silver and furnishings went to Venice. Of his ten fiefs, his heirs kept Malpaga and Cavernago; the other eight returned to the Venetian state. Venice did not allow statues in Piazza San Marco. In 1479 it accepted the legacy and chose the square in front of the Scuola Grande di San Marco, beside Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Verrocchio won the commission, made the model and died in Venice in 1488 before casting. Against his wishes Venice gave the work to Alessandro Leopardi. The statue went up in 1496 and stands there now. His grandsons through the Martinengo family were to carry the Colleoni name.