Venice once used lion statues as anonymous tip boxes

A closer look

Snitching was a state-sponsored art form in Renaissance Venice. The feared Council of Ten operated a ruthless counter-intelligence agency fueled by paranoia and public drop boxes shaped like terrifying lion faces, called 'Bocche dei Leoni'. Citizens could secretly slip written accusations of treason, tax evasion, or espionage straight into the lion's mouth, launching brutal, shadow-court investigations that often ended with the accused vanishing into the Doge's dungeons.