Next to the portal on Borgo Santo Spirito is the foundling wheel, likely already in existence in the 15th century, beside which a small slot was placed for donations. A bell alerted the nuns, who would receive the infants and entrust them to wet nurses. The larger circle at the bottom of the grille indicated the maximum size of a newborn that could be placed in the wheel. Older children, brought in through the main entrance, were nonetheless accepted and raised. A double cross, the emblem of the Hospital, was tattooed on the instep of the children’s left foot, freeing them from the stigma of being “children of no one” and marking them as belonging to the Ospedale di Santo Spirito.
