The name derives from the large marble head in the wall of one of the buildings on the street. 

Between the 15th and 16th centuries, there used to be a hospice here, where four brothers lived on charity, and were required to wear the effigy of Saint Mark on their coats to remind them that the hospice was owned by the association of San Marco which paid them a miserly annual wage to support themselves. 

Along the street, we see coats of arms in Istrian stone representing shields of various shapes