Class jj^_i~L2<. Book VENICE GRANT ALLEN'S HISTORICAL GUIDES PARIS. By Grant Allen. FLORENCE. By Grant A len. CLASSICAL ROME. By A. Stuart Jokes CHRISTIAN ROME. By J. W. and A. M. Ckuickshank. VENICE. By Grant Allen. THE CITIES OF BELGIUM. By Grant Allen. THE CITIES OF NORTHERN ITALY. By G. C. Williamson, Litt.D. THE UMBRIAN TOWNS. By J. W. and A. M. Cruickshank. SMALLER TUSCAN TOWNS. By J. W. and A. M. Cruickshank. Fcap. 8vo. Cloih. Round corners. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/veniceOOalle GRANT ALLEN'S HISTORICAL GUIDES VENICE WITH THIRTY-TWO REPRODUCTIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS NEW YORK HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY LONDON : GRANT RICHARDS LTD. •$c* First printed September 1898 Reprinted . . . June 1901 Reprinted Reprinted Reprinted Reprinted Reprinted July 1902 Aug. 1906 Dec. 1907 Jan. 1909 Feb. 1912 /2_ PRINTED BY WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, LTD. PLYMOUTH, ENGLAND INTRODUCTION THE object and plan of these Historical Handbooks is somewhat different from that of any other guides at present before the public. They do not compete or clash with such existing works ; they are rather intended to supplement than to supplant them. My purpose is not to direct the stranger through the streets and squares of an unknown town towards the buildings or sights which he may desire to visit ; still less is it my design to give him practical information about hotels, cab fares, omnibuses tramways, and other everyday material conveniences. For such details the traveller must still have recourse to the trusty pages of his Baedeker, his Joanne, or his Murray I desire rather to supply the tourist who wishes to use his travel as a means of culture with such historical and anti- quarian information as will enable him to understand, and therefore to enjoy, the architecture, sculpture, painting, and minor arts of the towns he visits. In one word, it is my object to give the reader in a very compendious form the result of all those inquiries which have naturally suggested themselves to my own mind during thirty-five years of foreign travel, the solution of which has cost myself a good deal of research, thought, and labour, beyond the facts which I could find in the ordinary handbooks. For several years past I have devoted myself to collecting and arranging material for a set of books to embody the idea I had thus entertained. I earnestly hope they may meet a want on the part of tourists, especially Americans, vi INTRODUCTION who, so far as my experience goes, usually come to Europe with an honest and reverent desire to learn from the Old World whatever of value it has to teach them, and who are prepared to take an amount of pains in turning their trip to good account, which is both rare and praiseworthy. For such readers I shall call attention at times to other sources of information. These guide-books will deal more particularly with the Great Towns where objects of art and antiquity are numerous. In every one of them, the general plan pursued will be somewhat as follows. First will come the inquiry why a town ever gathered together at all at that particular spot— what induced the aggregation of human beings rather there than elsewhere. Next, we shall consider why that town grew to social or political import- ance and what were the stages by which it assumed its present shape. Thirdly, we shall ask why it gave rise to that higher form of handicraft which we know as Art, and towards what particular arts it especially gravitated. After that, we shall take in detail the various strata of its growth or development, examining the buildings and works of art which they contain in historical order, and, as far as possible, tracing the causes which led to their evolution. In particular, we shall lay stress upon the origin and meaning of each structure as an organic whole, and upon the allusions or symbols which its fabric embodies. A single instance will show the method upon which I intend to proceed better than any amount of general de- scription. A church, as a rule, is built over the body or relics of a particular saint, in whose special honour it was originally erected. That saint was usually one of great local importance at the moment of its erection, or was peculiarly implored against plague, foreign enemies, or some other pressing and dreaded misfortune. In dealing with such a church, then, I endeavour to show what were the circum- INTR OD UCTION vh stances which led to its erection, and what memorials of these circumstances it still retains. In other cases it may derive its origin from some special monastic body — Bene- dictine, Dominican, Franciscan— and may therefore be full of the peculiar symbolism and historical allusion of the order who founded it. Wherever I have to deal with such a church, I try as far as possible to exhibit the effect which its origin had upon its architecture and decoration ; to trace the image of the patron saint in sculpture or stained glass throughout the fabric ; and to set forth the connection of the whole design with time and place, with order and purpose. In short, instead of looking upon monuments of the sort mainly as the product of this or that architect, I look upon them rather as material embodiments of the spirit of the age — crystallisations, as it were, in stone and bronze, in form and colour, of great popular enthusiasms. By thus concentrating attention on what is essential and important in a town, I hope to give in a comparatively short space, though with inevitable conciseness, a fuller account than is usually given of the chief architectural and monu- mental works of the principal art-cities. In dealing with Paris, for example, I shall have little to say about such modern constructions as the Champs Elysees or the Eiffel Tower ; still less, of course, about the Morgue, the Cata- combs, the waxworks of the Musee Grevin, and the cele- brated Excursion in the Paris Sewers. The space thus saved from vulgar wonders I shall hope to devote to fuller explanation of Notre-Dame and the Sainte Chapelle, of the mediaeval carvings or tapestries of Cluny, and of the pictures or sculptures in the galleries of the Louvre. Similarly in Florence, whatever I save from description of the Cascine and even of the beautiful Viale dei Colli (where explanation is needless and word-painting superfluous), I shall give up to the Bargello, the Uffizi, and the Pitti Palace. The passing life of the moment does not enter into my plan ; viii INTRODUCTION I regard each town I endeavour to illustrate mainly as a museum of its own history. For this reason, too, I shall devote most attention in every case to what is locally illustrative, and less to what is merely adventitious and foreign. In Paris, for instance, I shall have more to say about truly Parisian art and history, as embodied in St. Denis, the He de la Cite, and the shrine of Ste. Genevieve, than about the Egyptian and Assyrian collections of the Louvre. In Florence, again, I shall deal rather with the Etruscan remains, with Giotto and Fra Angelico, with the Duomo and the Campanile, than with the admirable Memlincks and Rubenses of the Umzi and the Pitti, or with the beautiful Van der Goes of the Uffizi Gallery. In Bruges and Brussels, once more, I shall be especially Flemish ; in the Rhine towns, Rhenish ; in Venice, Venetian. I shall assign a due amount of space, indeed, to the foreign collections, but I shall call attention chiefly to those monuments or objects which are of entirely local and typical value. As regards the character of the information given, it will be mainly historical, antiquarian, and, above all, explanatory. I am not a connoisseur — an adept in the difficult modern science of distinguishing the handicraft of various masters, in painting or sculpture, by minute signs and delicate in- ferential processes. In such matters, I shall be well content to follow the lead of the most authoritative experts. Nor am I an art critic — a student versed in the technique of the studios and the dialect of the modelling-room. In such matters, again, I shall attempt little more than to accept the general opinion of the most discriminative judges. What I aim at rather is to expound the history and meaning of each work — to put the intelligent reader in such a position that he may judge for himself of the aesthetic beauty and success of the object before him. To recognise the fact that this is a Perseus and Andromeda, INTRODUCTION ix that a St. Barbara enthroned, the other an obscure episode in the legend of St. Philip, is not art criticism, but it is often an almost indispensable prelude to the formation of a right and sound judgment. We must know what the artist was trying to represent before we can feel sure what measure of success he has attained in his representation. For the general study of Christian art, alike in architec- ture, sculpture, and painting, no treatises are more useful for the tourist to carry with him for constant reference than Mrs. Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art, and Legends of the Madonna (London, Longmans). For works of Italian art, both in Italy and elsewhere, Kugler's Italian Schools of Painting is an invaluable vade mecum. These books should be carried about by everybody everywhere. Other works of special and local importance will occasionally be noticed under each particular city, church, or museum. I cannot venture to hope that handbooks containing such a mass of facts as these will be wholly free from errors and misstatements, above all in early editions. I can only beg those who may detect any such to point them out, without unnecessary harshness, to the author, care of the publisher, and if possible to assign reasons for any dissentient opinion. CONTENTS Introduction How to Use these Guide-Books . I Origins of Venice .... II Byzantine Venice : St. Mark's III Gothic Venice: The Doge's Palace IV Renaissance Venice .... V The Churches — A The Salute. San Trovaso. San Sebastiano I Carmini. San Pantaleone B The Frari. S. Toma. San Rocco. Scuola di San Rocco ...... C San Salvatore. San Giovanni Crisostomo Santa Maria dei Miracoli D S. M. Formosa. San Giovanni e Paolo San Francesco della Vigna E S. Zaccaria. S. Giorgio degli Schiavoni S. Giorgio dei Greci. S. Giovanni in Bragora. Church of the Pieta F S. Giovanni Elemosinario. S. Cassiano S. M. Mater Domini G Madonna dell' Orto. Santa Caterina. S. M dei Gesuiti. S. Marciliano H S. Giorgio Maggiore. II Redentore I San Giobbe. S. Alvise PAGE v xii CONTENTS PAGE VI The Academy . . I6 9 VII The Doge's Palace .... • 22 3 VIII The Grand Canal .... • 245 IX The Museo Civico .... . 262 X Excursions . 269 Appendix • • 283 Index r . 291 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FETE ClIAMPETRE AT THE LOUVRE Photograph : Mansell. Frontispiece s TO FACE PAGE • Capital from Justinian's Church of S. Vitale Ravenna . Photograph: Alinari. Italo-Byzantine Capital from the Atrium, S. Marco Photograph: J. W. Cruickshank. Byzantine Relief of Madonna Photograph : J. W. Cruickshank. Italo-Byzantine Carving of a Symbolical Character Photograph : J. W. Cruickshank. Romanesque Figure of the "Labour Photograph : J. W. Cruickshank. Byzantine-Romanesque Carving, S. Marco Photograph : J. W. Cruickshank. Pan t el from S. Apollinare Nuova, Ravenna Photograph : Alinari. Panel from S. Marco Photograph : J. W. Cruickshank. View in the Choir, S. Vitale, Ravenna . Photograph : Alinari. View in the Choir and Transept of S. Marco Photograph : Anderson. Head of King Solomon. Photograph : J. W. Cruickshank. Madonna and Child, by Giorgione Photograph : Anderson. 14 14 of December 22 / 24 28, 28 / 70. 70 84 96/ ILL USTRA TIONS TO FACE The Bridal Couple, by Lorenzo Lotto Photograph : Anderson. "Dorothea," by Sebastiano del Piombo . Photograph : Hanfstaengl. From the Equestrian Statue of Gattamelkta at Padua, by Donatello Photograph : Anderson. Sinner Going Down to Hell, by Michael Angelo Photograph : Anderson. Portrait of Loredano (Doge 1501-21), by Bellini Photograph : Mansell. Portrait of Pope Paul III., by Titian Photograph : Anderson. Head of Christ in the Church of S. Rocco Photograph : Anderson. "La Zingarella," by Titian Angels from the Coronation of the Virgin Photograph : Brogi. Angels from the Assumption of the Virgin Photograph : Anderson. Adam and Eve, by Rubens . Photograph : Anderson. Madonna by Botticelli Photograph : Brogi. Detail from "The Concert," by Titian Photograph : Anderson. "Flora," painted in 1523 by Titian . Photograph : Anderson. Portrait of Imhoff, by Durer . Photograph : Anderson. St. Catherine, by Carlo Crivelli Photograph : Brogi. "DANAE," PAINTED IN 1554 BY TlTIAN . Photograph : Anderson. ILL USTRA TIONS xv TO FACE PAGE Madonna and Child in the Chapei, of the Arena at Padua, by Giovanni Pisano .... 272 / Photograph : Alinari. Italo-Byzantine Mosaic. Madonna and Child . 272^ Photograph : J. W. Cruickshank. HOW TO USE THESE GUIDE- BOOKS r I "HE portions of this book inte?ided to be read at ■*■ leisure at home, before proceeding to explore each town or monument, are enclosed in brackets [thus]. The portion relating to each principal object should be quietly read and digested before a visit, and referred to again afterwards. The portion to be read on the spot ' is made as brief as possible, and is printed in large legible type, so as to be easily read in the dim light of churches, chapels, and galleries. The key-note words are printed in bold type, to catch the eye. Where objects are numbered, the numbers used are always those of the latest official catalogues. Baedeker's Guides are so printed that each principal portion can be detached entire from the volume. The traveller ivho uses Baedeker is advised to carry in his pocket one such portion, referring to the place he is then visiting, together tvith the plan of the town, while carrying this book in his hand. These Guides do not profess to supply practical information. Individual works of merit are distinguished by an asterisk (*) ; those of very exceptional interest and merit have two asterisks. Nothing is noticed in this book which does not seem to the writer worthy of attentio?i. See little at a time, and see it thoroughly. Never attempt to " do " any place or any monument. By following strictly the order in which" objects are noticed in this book, you will gain a conception of the historical evolution of the town which you cannot obtain if you go about looking at churches and palaces haphazard. The order is arranged, not quite chronologically, but on a definite plan, which greatly facilitates comprehension of the subject. I ORIGINS OF VENICE THE very name of Venezia or Venice by which we now know the city of the lagoons is in its origin the name, not of a town, but of a country. Upon the proper comprehension of this curious fact depends a proper comprehension of much that is essential in the early history of the city and of the Republic. The rich and fertile valley of the Po had for its com- mercial centre from a very remote period the town of Mediolanum or Milan. But its port for the time being, though often altered, lay always on the Adriatic. That sea derives its name, indeed, from the town of Hatria (later corrupted into Adria), which was the earliest centre of the Po valley traffic. Hatria and its sister town of Spina, how- ever, gave way in imperial Roman times to Padua, and again in the days of the lower empire to Aquileia, near Trieste, and to Altinum, on the mainland just opposite Torcello. Padua in particular was a very prosperous and populous town under the early emperors ; it gathered into itself the surplus wealth of the whole Po valley. The district between Verona and the sea, known to the Romans as Venetia, seems in the most ancient times of which we have any record to have been inhabited by an Etruscan population. Later, however, it was occupied by the Veneti, an Illyrian tribe, whose name still survives in that of Venice and in the district known as II Veneto. But much Etruscan blood must have remained in the land even after their conquest : and it is doubtless to this persistent Etrus- can element that the Venetians owe their marked artistic faculty. The country of the Veneti was assimilated and 2 ORIGINS OF VENICE [i. Romanised (by nominal alliance with Rome) in the third century before Christ. Under the Romans, Venetia, and its capital Padua, grew extremely wealthy, and the trade of the Lombard plain (as we now call it), the ancient Gallia Cisalpina, was concentrated on this district. The Po and the other rivers of the sub-Alpine region bring down to the Adriatic a mass of silt, which forms fan-like deltas, and spreads on either side of the mouth in belts or bars (the Lidi), which enclose vast Lagoons of shallow water. These lagoons consist near the mainland of bask- ing mudbanks, more or less reclaimed, and intersected by natural or artificial canals ; further out towards the bars or Lidi, they deepen somewhat, but contain in places numerous low islands. During the long troubles of the barbaric irruptions, in the fourth, fifth, and subsequent cen- turies, the ports of the lagoons, better protected both by land and sea than those of the Po, began to rise into com- parative importance ; on the south, Ravenna, on the north, Altinum, acquired increased commercial value. The slow silting up of the older harbours, as well as the dangers of the political situation, brought about in part this alteration in mercantile conditions. When Attila and his Huns invaded Italy in 453, they destroyed Padua, and also Altinum ; and though we need not suppose that those cities thereupon ceased entirely to exist, yet it is at least certain that their commercial im- portance was ruined for the time being. The people of Altinum took refuge on one of the islands in the lagoon, and built Torcello, which may thus be regarded in a certain sense as the mother=city of Venice. Subsequent waves of conquest had like results. Later on, in 568, the Lom = bards, a German tribe, invaded Italy, and completed the ruin of Padua, Altinum, and Aquileia. The relics of the Romanised and Christian Veneti then fled to the islands, to which we may suppose a constant migration of fugitives had been taking place for more than a century. The Paduans, in particular, seem to have settled at Malamocco. The subjugated mainland became known as Lombardy, from its, I.] ORIGINS OF VENICE 3 Germanic conquerors, and the free remnant of the Veneti, still bearing their old name, built new homes in- the flat islets of Rivo Alto, Malamocco, and Torcello, which were the most secure from attack in their shallow waters. This last fringe of their territory they still knew as Venetia or Venezia; the particular island, or group of islands, on which modern Venice now stands, bore simply at that time its original name of Rivo Alto or Rialto, that is to say, the Deep Channel. The Romanised semi-Etruscan Christian Republic of Venezia seems from the very first to have been governed by a Dux or Doge (that is to say, Duke), in normal subjection to the Eastern Emperor at Constantinople. The Goth and the Lombard, the Frank and the Hun, never ruled this last corner of the Roman world. The earliest of the Doges whose name has come down to us was Paulucius Anafestus, who is said to have died in 716, and whose seat of govern- ment seems to have been at Torcello. Later, the Doge of the Venetians apparently resided at Malamocco, a town which no longer exists, having been destroyed by sub- mergence, though part of the bank of the Lidi opposite still retains its name. Isolated in their island fastnesses, the Venetians, as we may now begin to call them, grew rich and powerful at a time when the rest of Western Europe was sinking lower and lower in barbarism ; they kept up their intercourse with the civilised Roman east in Constantinople, and also with Alexandria (the last then Mohammedanised), and they acted as intermediaries between the Lombard King- dom and the still Christian Levant. When Charlemagne in the eighth century conquered the Lombards and founded the renewed (Teutonic) Roman Empire of the West, the Venetians, not yet established in modern Venice, fled from Malamocco to Rivo Alto to escape his son, King Pepin r whom they soon repelled from the lagoons. About the same time they seem to have made themselves practically independent of the eastern empire, without becoming a part of the western and essentially German one of the Carlovingians. Not long after, Malamocco was deserted, partly, no doubt, owing to 4 ORIGINS OF VENICE [i. the destruction by Pepin, but partly also perhaps because it began to be threatened with submergence : and the Venetians then determined to fix their seat of government on Rivo Alto, or Rialto, the existing Venice. For a long time, the new town was still spoken of as Rialto, as indeed a part of it is by its own inhabitants to the present day ; but gradually the general name of Venezia, which belonged properly to the entire Republic, grew to be confined in usage to its capital, and most of us now know the city only as Venice. Pepin was driven off in 809. The Doge's palace was transferred to Rialto, and raised on the site of the existing building (according to tradition) in 819. Angelus Partici- pates was the first Doge to occupy it. From that period forward to the French Revolution, one palace after another housed the Duke of the Venetians on the same site. This was the real nucleus of the town of Venice, though the oldest part lay near the Rialto bridge. Malamocco did not entirely disappear, however, till 1107. The silting up of the harbour of Ravenna, the chief port of the Adriatic in late Roman times, and long an outlier of the Byzantine empire, contributed greatly, no doubt, to the rise of Venice : while the adoption of Rivo Alto with its deep navigable channel as the capital marks the gradual growth of an external commerce. The Republic which thus sprang up among the islands of the lagoons was at first confined to the little archipelago itself, though it still looked upon Aquileia and Altinum as its mother cities, and still acknowledged in ecclesiastical matters the supremacy of the Patriarch of Grado. After the repulse of King Pepin, however, the Republic began to recognise its own strength and the importance of its position, and embarked, slowly at first, on a career of commerce, and then of conquest. Its earliest acquisitions of territory were on the opposite Slavonic coast of Istria and Dalmatia; gradually its trade with the east led it, at the beginning of the Crusades, to acquire territory in the Levant and the •Greek Archipelago, This eastern extension was, mainly I.] ORIGINS OF VENICE 5 due to the conquest of Constantinople by Doge Enrico Dandolo during the fourth Crusade (1204), an epoch-making event in the history of Venice which must constantly be borne in mind in examining her art-treasures. The little outlying western dependency had vanquished the capital of the Christian Eastern Empire to which it once belonged. The greatness of Venice dates from this period ; it became the chief carrier between the east and the west ; its vessels exported the surplus wealth of the Lombard plain, and brought in return, not only the timber and stone of I stria and Dalmatia, but the manufactured wares of Christian Constantinople, the wines of the Greek isles, and the oriental silks, carpets, and spices of Mohammedan Egypt, Arabia, and Bagdad. The Crusades, which impoverished the rest of Europe, doubly enriched Venice : she had the carrying and transport traffic in her own hands ; and her conquests gave her the spoil of many eastern cities. It is important to bear in mind, also, that the Venetian Republic (down to the French Revolution) was the one part of western Europe which never at any time formed a portion of any Teutonic empire, Gothic, Lombard, Frank, or Saxon. Alone in the west, it carried on unbroken the traditions of the Roman empire, and continued its corporate life without Teutonic adulteration. Its peculiar position as the gate between the east and west made a deep impress upon its arts and its architecture. The city re- mained long in friendly intercourse with the Byzantine realm ; and an oriental tinge is thus to be found in all its early buildings and mosaics. St. Mark's in particular is based on St. Sophia at Constantinople ; the capitals of the columns in both are strikingly similar ; even Arab in- fluence and the example of Cairo (or rather of early Alexandria) are visible in many parts of the building. Another element which imparts oriental tone to Venice is the number of imported works of art from Greek churches. Some of these the Republic frankly stole ; others it carried away in good faith during times of stress to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Mohammedan con- 6 ORIGINS OF VENICE [i. querors. The older part of Venice is thus to some extent a museum of applied antiquities ; the bronze horses from Constantinople over the portal of St. Mark's, the pillars of St. John of Acre on the south facade, the Greek lions of the Arsenal, the four porphyry emperors near the Doge's Palace, are cases in point ; and similar instances will meet the visitor in the sequel everywhere. Many bodies of Greek oi eastern saints were also carried off from Syria or Asia Minor to preserve them from desecration at the hands of the infidel ; and with these saints came their legends, unknown elsewhere in the west ; so that the mosaics and sculptures based on them give a further note of orientalism to much of Venice. It may also be noted that the intense Venetian love of colour, and the eye for colour which accompanies it, are rather eastern than western qualities. This peculiarity of a pure colour-sense is extremely noticeable both in Venetian architecture and Venetian painting. The first Venice with which the traveller will have to deal is thus essentially a Romanesque- Byzantine city. It rose during the decay of the Roman empire, far from barbaric influences. Its buildings are Byzantine in type ; its mosaics are mostly the work of Greek or half- Greek artists ; its Madonnas and saints are Greek in aspect ; often even the very lettering of the inscriptions is in Greek, not in Latin. And though ecclesiastically Venice belonged to the western or Roman church, the general assemblage of her early saints (best seen in the Atrium and Baptistery of St. Mark's) is thoroughly oriental. We must remember that during all her first great period she was connected by the sea with Constantinople and the east, but cut off by the lagoons and the impenetrable marshes from all inter- course with Teutonised Lombardy and the rest of Italy. In front lay her highway : behind lay her moat. At this period, indeed, it is hardly too much to say that (save for the accident of language) Venice was rather a Greek than an Italian city. I strongly advise the tourist, therefore, to begin by forming a clear conception of this early Greekish Venice I.] ORIGINS OF VENICE 7 of the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, and then go on to observe how the later Italianate Venice grew slowly out of it. Mediaeval Italy was not Roman but Teutonised : influences from this Teutonic Italy were late in affecting the outlying lagoon-land. The beginnings of the change came with the conquests of Venice on the Italian mainland. Already Gothic art from the west had invaded the Republic with the rise of the great Dominican and Franciscan churches (San Giovanni e Paolo and the Frari) : the extension of Venice to the west, by the conquest of Padua and Verona (1405) com- pleted the assimilation. Thenceforward the Renaissance began to make its mark on the city of the lagoons, though at a much later date than elsewhere in Italy. I recommend the visitor accordingly, after he has familiarised himself with Byzantine Venice, to trace the gradual encroachment of Gothic art, and then the Renaissance movement. This Guide is so arranged as to make such a task as easy as possible for him. But while chronological comprehension is thus important, a strictly chronological method is here for many reasons both difficult and undesirable. I have tried rather to suggest a mode of seeing Venice which will unfold the story in the most assimilable order. It is best, then, to begin with the architecture, sculpture, and mosaics of St. Mark's ; in connection with which the few remaining Byzantine palaces ought to be examined. The Byzantine period is marked by the habit of sawing up precious marbles and other coloured stones (imported for the most part from earlier eastern buildings), and using them as a thin veneer for the incrustation of brick build- ings ; also, by the frequent employment of decorations made by inserting ancient reliefs in the blank walls of churches or houses. The eastern conquests of Venice made oriental buildings a quarry for her architects. The Gothic period is marked by a peculiar local style, showing traces of Byzantine and Arab influence. The early Renais- sance work at Venice is nobler and more dignified than elsewhere in Italy. The baroque school of the seven- 8 ORIGINS OF VENICE [i. teenth century, on the other hand, is nowhere so ap- palling. Venice was essentially a commercial Republic. Her greatness lay in her wealth. She flourished as long as she was the sole carrier between east and west ; she declined rapidly after the discovery of America, and of the route to India round the Cape of Good Hope, which made the Atlantic supersede the Mediterranean as the highway of the nations. As Antwerp, Amsterdam, and London rose, Venice fell. The reopening of the Mediter- ranean route by the construction of the Suez Canal has galvanised her port into a slightly increased vitality of recent years ; but she is still in the main a beautiful fossil- bed of various strata, extending from the tenth to the seventeenth centuries. The rise and progress of Venetian painting will be traced in detail when we come to consider the Academy; but its earliest origins and first motives must be looked for in the ancient mosaics of St. Mark's and of Murano. Whoever enters Venice by rail at the present day ought to bear in mind that he arrives (across the lagoon) by the back door. The front door was designed for those who came by sea ; there, Venice laid herself out to receive them with fitting splendour. The ambassadors or mer- chants who sailed up the navigable channel from the mouth of the Lido, saw first the Piazza, the Piazzetta, the two great granite columns, the campanile, St. Mark's, and the imposing facade of the Doge's Palace, reinforced at a later date by the white front of San Giorgio Maggiore and the cupolas of the Salute. This, though not perhaps the oldest part of the town, is the nucleus of historical Venice; and to it the traveller should devote the greater part of his attention. I strongly advise those whose stay is limited not to try to see all the churches and collections of the city, but to confine themselves strictly to St. Mark's, the Doge's Palace, the Academy, the four or five major churches, and the tour of the Grand Canal, made slowly in a gondola. i.] ORIGINS OF VENICE 9 Those who have three or four weeks at their disposal, however, ought early in their visit to see Torcello and Murano — Torcello as perhaps the most ancient city of the lagoons, still preserved for us in something like its antique simplicity, amid picturesque desolation ; Murano as helping us to reconstruct the idea of Byzantine Venice. It is above all things important not to mix up in one whirling picture late additions like the Salute and the Ponte di Rialto with early Byzantine buildings like St. Mark's or the Palazzo Loredan, with Gothic architecture like the Doge s Palace or the Ca' Doro, and with Renaissance masterpieces, like the Libreria Vecchia or the ceilings of Paolo Veronese. Here more than anywhere else in Europe, save at Rome alone, though chronological treatment is difficult, a strictly chronological comprehension of the various stages of growth is essential to a right judgment. Walk by land as much as possible. See what you see in a very leisurely fashion. Venice is all detail ; unless you read the meaning of the detail, it will be of little use to you. Of course the mere colour and strangeness and picturesque- ness of the water-city are a joy in themselves ; but if you desire to learn, you must be prepared to give many days to St. Mark's alone, and to examine it slowly. I take first the group of buildings and works of art which cluster around the front door of Venice, the Piazza and the Piazzetta. These adequately represent the Byzantine, the Gothic, and the Renaissance periods. When you have thus familiarised yourself with the keynotes of each great style, as locally embodied, you will be in a position to understand the rest of Venice. The patron saints of Venice are too numerous to cata- logue. A few only need be borne in mind by those who pay but a short visit of a month or so. The Venetian fleets in the early ages brought home so many bodies of saints that the city became a veritable repository of holy corpses. First and foremost, of course, comes St. Mark, whose name, whose effigy, and whose winged lion occur every- io ORIGINS OF VENICE [i. where in the city ; to the Venetian of the middle ages he was almost, indeed, the embodiment of Venice. He sleeps at St. Mark's. The body of St. Theodore, the earlier patron, never entirely dispossessed, lay in the Scuola (or Guild) of St. Theodore, near the church of San Salvatore (now a furniture shop). But the chief subsidiary saints of later Venice were St. George and St. Catherine, patrons of the territories of the Republic, to the first of whom many churches are dedicated, while the second appears every- where in numerous pictures and reliefs. The great plague- saints— Sebastian, Roch, Job— I have treated separately later. These seven at least the tourist must remember and expect to recognise at every turn in his wanderings. The body of St. Nicholas, the sailors' saint, lay at San Niccolo di Lido, though a rival body, better authenticated or more believed in, was kept at Bari. The costume of the Doges, and the Doge's cap ; the Venetian type of Justice, with sword and scales ; the almost indistinguishable figure of Venetia, also with sword and scales, enthroned between lions ; and many like local allegories or symbols, the visitor should note and try to un- derstand from the moment of his arrival. Though I give the whole account of St. Mark's at once, for convenience sake, I do not advise the reader to see it all at once and consecutively. Begin with the first parts described in this book, but intersperse with them visits to the Academy, the Churches, and other buildings. St. Mark's is best seen in the afternoon, when you will not needlessly disturb the worshippers. The Academy closes at 3, and must therefore be seen in the morning. Occasional trips to the Lido, Chioggia, etc., vary the monotony and strain of sight-seeing. II BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S THE primitive patron of the town of Rivo Alto, and of the Republic of the Venetians, was the martyr St. Theodore, whose ancient figure still tops one of the columns in the Piazzetta. A church dedicated to this ancient saint is said to have occupied (nearly) the site of St. Mark's before the ninth century. But in the year 819 (or 813), when the seat of government of the Republic was fixed in Rivo Alto, the first Doge's Palace was built on the spot where its successor now stands, and a Ducal Chapel was erected beside it. The body of St. Mark, however, was then preserved at Alexandria ; though, after the conquest of Egypt by the Arabs in 640, the church of St. Mark's in which it was kept was exposed to continual insults ftom the victorious infidel. In 829, the Khalif decided to destroy the church, for the sake of its marbles. Some Vene- tian merchants who happened to be then at Alexandria (a proof of the early maritime commerce of the town) succeeded in carrying off the body of the saint, and conveying it to Venice. On its arrival, it was received in state and housed in the Ducal Chapel ; while, in order to show due honour to the Evangelist, St. Theodore was deposed from his place as patron, and St. Mark was made the tutelary saint of the Republic. This Chapel, built under Giovanni Participazio, and dating from 829 onwards, stood between the old Church of St. Theodore, and the Ducal Palace. In ground plan it was probably a simple basilica ; ending in the usual apse, and without transepts. A few years before the arrival of 12 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST MARK'S [n. the relics the Venetians had defeated Pepin, son of Charles the Great, in his attempt to add their territory to the Western Empire, and according to their uniform policy of making treaties with those least likely to be able to put pressure upon them, they had become allies of the Eastern Empire. It was therefore natural that the friendly Emperor should send artificers to enshrine the relics in the new church ; thus from the ninth to the thirteenth century the church of St. Mark's owes its form to the art of Constantinople. In 976, the church was partially burned, but was restored within two years by Pietro Orseolo. In the time of the Doge Domenico Contarini (1043-1071) the church was reconstructed by Byzantine workmen. It is said that the general plan was founded on that of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. However that may have been, the character of the building was altered by the addition of transepts. On the northern side the old church of St. Theodore was dismantled, part of the wall being used in the northern transept. The southern transept rests on walling formerly part of the Ducal Palace. In addition the building now forming the atrium, the Capella Zen and the Baptistery were added and carried to the height of the balcony on which the bronze horses stand. The framework of the entire building was probably finished in 1071, and the next Doge, Domenico Salvo, it is supposed, began the adornment by covering the brick walls with marble and the domes and wall spaces below with mosaics. This went on for two centuries ; the result is seen in the thirteenth -century mosaic over the most northerly of the western doors, where there is a picture of the facade of the church. About the close of the fourteenth and first half of the fifteenth century, when the Gothic style had superseded the Romanesque and Byzantine, Gothic adornments were added, in the shape of pinnacles and pointed gables above the chief arches. II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST MARK'S 13 The changes thus effected may be seen in the picture by Gentile Bellini in the Academy. In the sixteenth century and afterward, many of the beautiful old mosaics were destroyed, and replaced by jejune Renaissance compositions, which have no decorative value. But as a whole the church is still essentially Byzantine- Romanesque, with only just sufficient intrusion of the Gothic element to add a certain touch of bizarre extrava- gance. The walls are of brick, but they are coated or incrusted throughout with thin slabs of many-coloured marble and alabaster ; the slender columns are of jasper, serpentine, verd-antique, porphyry, and other rare stones, mostly de- rived from earlier buildings ; and the whole is profusely adorned with gold and mosaic. To the mediaeval Venetian, St. Mark was not only the patron but the embodiment of Venice ; wherever the Venetian fleets went, they brought home in triumph columns and precious stones and reliefs and works of art for the further beautifying of the great shrine of their protector. St. Mark's is thus a museum of collected fragments, as well as a gallery of mosaic-work. Its richness of colour is one of its greatest attractions. The architecture of St. Mark's, in its original conception, was alien on Italian soil. The eleventh-century church had little in common with Venetian tastes and ideas. It was from the additions of Romanesque, Gothic, and Renais- sance times that the building became a reflection of that joy in the life of the senses, that has especially dis- tinguished the Venetian. Throughout the whole flourishing period of Venice the shrine of the Evangelist was officially nothing more than the domestic chapel of the Doge's Palace. The relatively unimportant church of San Pietro di Castello remained the cathedral till 1807, at which date St. Mark's superseded it. In examining St. Mark's, remember especially three things. First, it is the shrine of the body of St. Mark the Evangelist, the protector of the Republic, whom every Venetian regarded as the chief helper of Venice in times of i 4 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [n. trouble. Second, it is the private chapel of the Doge's Palace. Third, it is essentially an oriental building, as befits what was really an outlying western fragment of the eastern empire. Very many visits should be paid to St. Mark's. It would be impossible within the limits of these Guides adequately to describe all the architectural points, the mosaics, and the sculpture ; but in the succeeding account I have tried first to call attention to the main features, and then to treat in detail a few portions of the building as specimens, giving the reader some main clues by means of which he may work out the meaning of the rest of the building for himself on similar principles. St. Mark's is, of course, by far the most important thing to see at Venice, and as much time as possible should be devoted to repeated visits. Do not run about after minor churches before you have thoroughly grasped the significance of this marvellous building. The motto of Venice is " Pax tibi Marce, Evangelista meus" — "Peace to thee, Mark, my Evangelist." It will occur often on buildings or pictures. [Whenever you visit St. Mark's, take your opera glass.] General Impression. St. Mark's is not in mere size a very large church, but it is so vast, in the sense of being varied and complex, that it can only be grasped in full after long study. I advise you, therefore, to begin by walking round and through the building, in order to obtain a comprehensive idea of the architectural ground-plan, both from without and within, before you proceed to the examination in detail. The effect does not depend on the kind of architectural features that distinguish a great church north of the Alps. Instead of a high frowning mass, there is a broad, low building. The system of buttresses which support a northern church has no obvious counterpart at S. Marco. Instead of the cavernous doorways of Amiens and the deep porches of Chartres, there is an atrium in wliich richly-. Photograph: Alinar! CAPITAL FROM JUSTINIAN'S CHURCH OF S. VITALE RAVENNA Built in the Sixth Century Compare with Capital from S. Marco of the twelfth or thirteenth century Photograph : J. W Cruickshank ITALO-BYZANTINE CAPITAL FROM THE ATRIUM S. MARCO Twelfth or Thirteenth Century Compare with the Byzantine Capital from S. Vitale of the sixth century II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 15 coloured mosaic pictures take the place of solemn rows of sculptured saints. Instead of the emphasis given to the whole by great towers or spires, the domes of S. Marco add comparatively little to the general effect of the exterior. In place of the grey stone of the north, nothing is to be seen but the rich colour of marbles or porphyry or the gleam of mosaic. The charm of the outside of S. Marco lies in its brilliant colouring and in its diversity. The structure is Byzantine, and that is still the dominant note ; but it is only Byzantine, in spite of additions made by every school, and in all styles. The sculptured panels which add so much to the richness and interest of the marble incrustations belong to centuries so far apart as the sixth and the thirteenth. Lower stories, in which stately columns and string-courses suggest the style of an imperial forum, contrast with the Gothic pinnacles and the flamboyant crocketing added in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Throughout there is the piquant contrast between the classical and the romantic ideal, and besides this the Venetian has in the end secured for himself the air of genial gaiety and brightness which he loves. The church has three fagades. The western, facing the great Piazza ; the northern (to the left), facing the Piazza dei Leoni ; the southern (to the right), facing the Piazzetta and the Lagoon. An Atrium, or vestibule, reaching only to the height of the gallery, girds the lower parts of the facades on the north and west ; on the south, this Atrium has been en- closed to form the Baptistry and the Cappella Zen. The roof of the Atrium forms an outer Gallery or terrace, on which the bronze horses stand. Above this balcony we see the great Arches of the original Byzantine construction forming the walls of the body of the church ; on the west there are five, on the north, four, on the south, two. The church has five Domes (best seen from the middle of the Piazza). Three cover the nave, the crossing, and the 16 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S n. choir ; and over each of the transepts there is one. Above each dome there is a cross. • The Interior. The nave is separated from the aisles by a glorious Byzantine colonnade carrying an open gallery. To the R. and L. of the choir are two apsidal chapels, that of St. Clement and that of St. Peter. In the north or L. transept are the chapels of Our Lady, of St. Isidore, and Dei Mascoli. In the south or R. transept, the chapel of the Holy Sacra- ment. Under the High Altar rests the body of St. Mark. Do not attempt to fix all these points at once in your memory, but endeavour to gain at first sight as clear a con- ception as you can of the four main arms of the church, with their aisles or side-chapels. Remember that the whole building falls into five main portions — the Centre, and the North, South, East, and West branches, each marked by its own Dome. Other points will become clearer in the sequel. Fuller information about St. Mark's as a whole will be found in Canon Pasini's Guide de la Basilique St. Marc: an admirable account of the mosaics is given in Com. Sac- cardo's Les Mosaiques de St. Marc. Both books can be procured at Ongania's in the Piazza (S.E. corner). The Exterior. The effect of the building as a whole is best seen either early in the morning, when the sun strikes upon the domes from the east, or late in the afternoon, when the fagade is in shadow and the roofs and pinnacles are lit up by the setting sun. At these times the lights and shadows bring out the quality of the Domes, their dignity and mass, their pic- turesque grouping. The pinnacles are less prominent, the colours of the mosaics are more subdued, and the recessed ^arches over the doors gain in depth and effect. ..Begin your detailed examination of the exterior with the II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST MARK'S 17 West Front. Start first with the lower portion, formed by the Atrium. Set out by taking a seat at the base of the northernmost Flagstaff, the one close to the gilded Clock-Tower with the big clock. Here you will observe that the lower stage consists of five large arches, flanked by two much smaller and irregular ones. The central arch is higher than the others, so that it impinges upon the terrace. On this terrace stand four magnificen antique * Bronze Horses, forming a quadriga, or team of four, for a chariot. These horses are so important in fixing the date of various portions of the church, that I will briefly describe them here. They make the only known remaining example of an ancient quadriga, and opinions differ as to their date and origin. They are believed by some antiquaries to be Greek works of the school of Lysippus, but others hold that they are of Roman origin. It is almost certain that they once adorned the triumphal arch of Nero, whence they were transferred to that of Trajan and other subsequent emperors. When Constantine founded Constantinople, he took them there to adorn the Hippodrome of his New Rome. In 1204, Doge Enrico Dandolo conquered Constantinople, and the Podesta Zen sent these trophies to Venice, where they were set up on the Ducal Chapel in the place where you now see them. This date of 1204 is very important for the identification of the period of certain mosaics. The horses remained where Dandolo set them up till 1797, when Napoleon, having extinguished the Republic, took them to Paris, and employed them to decorate the summit of the triumphal arch he had erected in the Place du Carrousel. In 18 15, however, on the final establishment of the European peace, the Emperor Francis I. of Austria, to whom Yenetia was assigned, restored them to St. Mark's. They are noble specimens of ancient sculpture, though defectively cast, portions having been hammered in to conceal the imperfections. They should be carefully examined, from above and from below, 18 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [n. by those who are interested in antique sculpture. An ugly inscription on the main archivolt of the central door beneath records, not their early history, but the trivial fact of their restitution by the Austrians. Turn now to the Mosaics (on the facade) ; the lunette of the central arch is filled by a late and feeble mosaic of the Last Judgment (1836). The remaining lunettes contain the history of the removal of the body of St. Mark from Alexan- dria to Venice. Though (with one exception) late, and artistically of little interest, these mosaics, unhappily sub- stituted for the fine early ones, should be examined in detail as embodying the legend of the foundation of this church. The series begins to the right. First Arch (r.) on the under side of the arch itself, the body of St. Mark removed from his church in Alexandria ; (l.) it is placed in a basket and covered with leaves ; (centre lunette) the authorities examine it, but being told that it is pork, withdraw in aver- sion : all of 1660. Second Arch (r.) under side, the arrival of the body at Venice on the Venetian ship ; (centre lunette) it is received at the quay with religious processions ; (l.) the body, on a bier, is carried ashore at Venice : all of 1660. Third Arch , beyond the great doorway: Reception of the body in state by the Doge and Senators ; a finely-coloured work of the eighteenth century, designed by Rizzi,but inappropriate for its place. Fourth Arch** a magnificent early thirteenth century mosaic, representing the Church of St. Mark into which the body is brought. Examine it closely to show the state of the church at that date. The central lunette above the great doorway, you can see, was then worthily occupied by a colossal Byzantine figure of Christ. Beneath this figure, two ecclesiastics bear the sacred body on a bier into the church ; around stand princes and people, symbol- ising, perhaps, the various kings, queens, and distinguished persons who have visited the shrine since the reception of the Evangelist's body at Venice. All the mosaics of the facade were once of this type : the sixteenth century, in its pride of accurate drawing and perspective, replaced them il] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 19 by the present insipid substitutes. You can see copies of the originals in the great Bellini picture at the Academy. Now step back into the Piazza and look at the upper facade, above the Gallery of the Four Horses. Its central arch is filled by one great window. The other four arches contain four late, weak and uninteresting mosaics (seventeenth century) from the History of Christ after the Crucifixion. Unlike the series of the Translation of St. Mark,theyread from L. to R. First Iwiette, the Descent from the Cross ; second lunette, Christ in Hades delivering Adam and Eve and the Patriarchs; third lunette, the Resurrection ; fourth lunette, the Ascension. All these mosaics, with those of the lower lunettes beneath them, replace two sets of four finer early compositions, of which one only (that of the Byzantine church) now remains to us. Observe the decorative superiority of this last, and its suitability to the architecture it adorns. Between these lunettes are functionally useful figures of water-carriers with rain-spouts, probably symbol- ising the Four Rivers of Paradise. So far the main fabric of the facade represents the original Byzantine-Romanesque building (except in so far as the mosaics have been altered), and corresponds with the picture of the church given in the thirteenth-century mosaic. The turreted pinnacles and gables above are later Gothic addi = tions of the fifteenth century. The gables stand over the centre of the main arches, and are mere thin screens of decoration, with no roof behind them. Examine them all in order. On the topmost gable of all, in the very centre, stands St. Mark himself, bearing his Gospel, in the place of honour as patron saint of this church. Below him, on either side, are three angels, with gilt metal wings, in veneration, among rampant foliage. The uppermost pair swing censers. The second pair hold holy-water vessels and sprinklers. The third pair have their arms folded in veneration of the Evangelist. Beneath them, on a blue firmament set with golden stars, is the gilt emblem of the Evangelist, the winged lion, holding a book inscribed with the Venetian motto, Pax tibi, Marce, 20 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [n. Evangelista metis, words spoken to him from heaven while on his way from Aquileia. The four other gables, above the centres of the arches, have statues of four great warrior saints of Christendom, emblematic of the position of Venice as champion of the faith against the Infidel in the east— a point of great importance at the period when these Gothic additions were made to the primitive building. The two nearest St. Mark are (L.) St. George, with the red-cross shield, and the dragon, above the mosaic of Christ in Hades ; and (r.) St. Theodore with his dragon, above the Resurrec- tion. These are the two subsidiary patrons of the Republic. To the extreme left, above the Deposition, stands (I think) St. Proculus, holding a banner ; to the extreme right, St. Demetrius. (Perhaps St. Demetrius, L., and St. Proco- pius or St. Mercurius, R.) All are armed with gilt-tipped spears. Beneath each figure half-lengths of four Prophets, holding rolls of their prophecies, emerge among rampant and rather flamboyant foliage. The intervals between the gables are filled up by six little turrets, or canopied pinnacles. Of these the one to the extreme left contains the Archangel Gabriel kneeling; the one to the extreme right, the Blessed Virgin, praying at a prie-Dieu. These two form together an Annunciation. The four central turrets contain statues of the Evangelists with their symbols, in the following order from L. to R. : Matthew, angel ; Mark, lion \ John, eagle ; Luke, bull. Our Lady's pinnacle alone is distinguished by spiral shafts. Taking the lower facade in further detail, you observe, to the extreme L., a small portico, with a stilted arch, contain- ing a beautiful decorative design of birds facing one another. (See Goblet D'Alviella's Migration of Symbols.) The setting of this panel is quite exceptionally ungraceful. It is sup- ported below by one lily-capitalled column, the columns above being more numerous, as is usual at St. Mark's and in Byzantine architecture generally, thus giving a tree-like effect of trunk and branches. The upper columns of this portico are of porphyry. Between the two to the R. is a water- bearer. Photograph: J. VV. Cruickshank BYZANTINE RELIEF OF MADONNA Western Fa$ade, S. Marco ii.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S i\ To the extreme R., the little portico forming part of the West and South Fronts is one of the most beautiful elements of the edifice, architecturally speaking. All its columns and capitals should be carefully examined. There is a reason for its special decoration. It is the most noticeable portion of the building, turned towards the Piazza, the sea, and the Doge's Palace, and on it the greatest pains have accordingly been lavished. The shafts and capitals of its columns are exquisitely beautiful. The short red pillar, without, near its outer angle, is the Sacred Stone of Venice, the Pietra del Bando, from which the laws of the Republic were pro- claimed. Next take a seat at the base of the Central Flagstaff, and observe the Reliefs let into the walls of the lower facade between the arches. Remember that the sculptured panels on St. Mark's are, for the most part, unrelated pieces added to the building. They are generally most carefully set in frames of coloured marble or with dentil mouldings. There are six such pieces on the western facade. Beginning with the two on either side of the Central Archway, to the r. is St. George, to the L. St. Demetrius. St. George, the finer figure, is supposed to have been brought from Constanti- nople. There is the delicate sensitiveness of Byzantine technique. The fastidious accoutrements, the elaborate dressing of the hair, and the inconspicuous expression sug- gest a court favourite rather than a Christian martyr. In technical qualities, in control of the figure, and in easy rendering of gesture, this relief stands out clearly from ordinary Italo-Byzantine work. To the left of St. George is the Madonna, with her arms extended in the Byzantine fashion and her Greek monogram, ' Mother of God." To the R. of St. Demetrius is the angel Gabriel. The two form between them an Annunciation, separated, as is often the case, by wide spaces. The figure of Madonna is that of a mature woman. It reaches a subtle note of spiritual elevation rarely attained except in the finest Byzantine work. The simplicity of the drapery, the delicate scheme of relief, the disregard of 22 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST, MARK'S [n. naturalism, the abstract quality alike of conception and execution distinguish the work. To the left of Madonna is Hercules with the boar, and to the right of Gabriel, Hercules with the stag. The first is supposed to be a copy from a Greek model. The second is Italo-Byzantine work. The comparatively well-understood anatomy and form of the classical work is in striking contrast to the hard, rigid limbs and the exaggerated anatomy of the torso, in the mediaeval example. The dates of the six reliefs are uncertain. Now proceed to examine the Doorways. To the extreme left, the First Doorway (under the thirteenth-century Mosaic) has a beautiful arch of Eastern form, with the bust of Christ at the top and two prophets in the spandrils. Within the arch are gilt reliefs of Christ, as the rider on the white horse (Rev. xix. n ?). Below it are the symbols of the four Evangelists, in the following order : Luke, bull ; Mark, lion ; John, eagle ; Matthew, angel. This order is common in Venice. Beneath the exquisite lattice-work is a lintel, with scenes from the life of Christ, very obscure, the most decipherable being the Adoration of the Magi, the Annunciation to the Shepherds, and the miracles in Cana. The workmanship is rude, and the figures set in niches imitate the style of Roman Sar- cophagi. The Second Doorway is square in general outline, with similarly decorated columns as in the first, and a centre resembling goldsmith-work. The Third Doorway contains the main portal, flanked by a singularly beautiful group of columns. The capitals of these columns are a peculiar Italo-Byzantine adaptation of the Acanthus design. Note the deep ruby of the porphyry columns against the green marble behind. In the lunette immediately above the square door is a relief of an angel and a sleeping evangelist. It probably represents the legend that as St. Mark was passing the lagoon, on his way from Aquileia to Alexandria, an angel notified to him in a dream that his basilica would be erected Photograph ; J. W. Cruickshanlt ITALO-BYZANTINE CARVING OF A SYMBOLICAL CHARACTER From the Soffit of the Akch over the Main Doorway, S. Marco Photograph: J. W. Cruickshank ROMANESQUE FIGURE OF THE "LABOUR OF DECEMBER Over the Central Doorway, S. Marco Compare with the Italo-Byzantine birds with twined necks II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 23 on this spot. (The legend here described will be more fully illustrated hereafter in the Cappella Zen.) The style of the sculpture resembles the later work of the Antelami stone- masons at Parma. In the sculpture upon the successive arches and archi- volts rising above the central doorway to the top of the building, we have an epitome of the changes in style from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries. In the construction also there is a marked contrast between the distinguished simplicity of the Byzantine colonnades, the rhetoric of the late Mosaic, and the exuberance of the GothiG crockets and pinnacles. Although the Venetians have had little to do with the execution, they have secured their ideal — official devoutness, tempered by sensuous gaiety. The first archivolt on the soffit, or under side, is a design, Byzantine in style and Romanesque in temper. On the left, at the base, is the figure of a man with serpents coming from his mouth ; on the right is a woman suckling serpents. Judging from other analogous figures, where the purpose is more directly explained, these may represent Heresy (the man) and the Church (the woman). Above Heresy a lion destroys a stag, typical of the devil attacking the human soul. Above the Church a child puts its hand in a lion's mouth, a symbol of the peace of the kingdom of heaven. Other animal symbols in the scroll continue the contrast of good and evil. On the face of the archivolt the design springs on one side from a woman seated on a lion, and on the other from a man seated on an ox. The scenes represent childhood and youth, the work of hunting and trading — perhaps an epitome of the development of man and the social state. The under side of the second archivolt has the famous -'labours" of the twelve months (with zodiacal signs) thus represented, from L. to R. : January, carrying home a tree ; February, warming his feet, with the fishes ; March, a warrior (Martius) with the ram ; April, carrying a sheep, with the bull ; May, seated, and crowned with flowers by two maidens, with the heads of the twins ; June, reaping, with the crab ; 24 &YZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [n. in the keystone, Christ enthroned in the firmament as ruling the seasons ; then, July, mowing ; August, taking a siesta, above him the sign Virgo ; September, the vintage, with the scales; October, digging ; November, catching birds; Decem- ber killing pigs. The fine leafage, and the beautiful design of vase and birds at each end> represent the remains of Byzantine tradition, while Romanesque character appears in rude proportions and contorted gesture. At the same time, the coming change in Italian art makes itself felt in the fresh naturalism of the design. On the face of this archivolt are figures symbolising Religion, with the eight Beatitudes and the seven Virtues. Some of these figures have the inexpert heaviness of Romanesque work ; others again, such as the dancing figure of Hope, on the left, have an abandon, even a verve, that almost forecasts the Renaissance. The main or third archivolt, surrounding the mosaic of the Resurrection, has on its under surface the handicrafts of Venice, reading thus from R. to L. : the Fishermen, the Smith, the Sawyer, the Woodcutter, the Cooper or Cask- maker, the Barber-Surgeon, the Weaver ; in the keystone, Christ the Lamb ; the Mason, the Potter, the Butcher, the Baker, the Vintner, the Shipwright ; and last of all, in a different style, a doubtful figure with crutches, which may represent old age. The compositions are overcrowded, and there is no attempt to idealise ; as on the Florentine Cam- panile a plain statement is made, vigorous and realistic in treatment. The outer surface of this archivolt contains eight Prophets with scrolls, among exquisite foliage of acanthus with conventionalised bosses, typically Byzantine. The face of the fourth and highest archivolt, above the bronze horses, has stories from Genesis set in lozenge- shaped panels of Florentine type ; between the panels sombre figures among foliage. The work looks like fully developed Florentine sculpture of the fourteenth century. On the under side of the arch are patriarchs and evan- gelists under Gothic niches. They are in the style of the Photograph : J. W. Cruickshank BYZANTINE-ROMANESQUE CARVING "Hope," from the Central Doorway of S. Marco II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST MARK'S 25 fifteenth century, somewhat correct and formal in compari- son with the more vigorous work below. The next, or fourth doorway, resembles the second, but has a fine bronze gate with heads in relief. The last, or fifth doorway, has decorative work, and very beautiful capitals to some of its columns. North Front. Now, proceed round the corner furthest from the lagoon, into the little Piazzetta dei Leoni, so called from the two squat and stumpy red marble lions which guard its entrance; they were placed here by Doge Alvise Mocenigo in the eighteenth century. As before, examine first the lower facade, beginning at the further end of the little Piazza, near the Patriarchal [Archiepiscopal] Palace. The first great arch has, to its R. and L., reliefs of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel (Raphael comes later). Beneath it stands the monument of Daniele Manin, Dictator of the abortive Republic of 1848. A little further to the right is a little panel of Victory, bearing a palm branch and laurel wreath. Round the first corner is a colossal figure of St. Chris- topher, bearing the infant Christ. The work is heavy and with little vitality ; the feet set flat on the ground. Observe the beautiful decorative work throughout this portion of the building. Here and elsewhere the marble slabs should be closely noted. The little facade to the left of the open door into the church has, just under the balcony, five seated figures in low relief, Christ between St. John and St. Matthew; the other two evangelists, St. Luke and St. Mark, being placed on the north wall beyond the angle. St. John is inspired by a genius, in the classical style. The relief is low, and although the style is unemphatic it is large. The simple dignified figures remind one of carvings in ivory. Below these figures : a symbolical panel of two stags eating the leaves of a tree and drinking from a stream, representing the soul in Paradise. On a lower level : relief 26 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [it of our Lady, in the Greek fashion with adoring angels ; charming for the simplicity of the girlish figure and the delicate beauty of the setting. Below again, a stiff figure of St. Leonard (his altar was formerly just within) with something of the same characteristic as the St. Christopher. The main north fagade, which commences beyond this angle, contains, first, a Gothic doorway, known as the Porta dei Fz'ori, so called from the flowers sold here for the decoration of the Altar. In this doorway and its surround- ings the classical and the romantic spirits seem for once to have been fused. There is rich material and fine craftsman- ship well controlled ; there is a sense of order and sym- metry, elaborate and mystical design, and a love of nature. High above the containing arch John the Evangelist, stiff but classical. The large arch is carved with Prophets, set in rich foliage. On the cusped and pointed arch within are figures of angels. On the inner design, birds and animals feed on the vine, symbolical of the nourishment of the word. And in the centre of all this wealth of imaginative setting is the Nativity, a piece of rude Romanesque carving. Under the second arch from the Porta dei Fiori is a mosaic panel with the design of a cross and two trees repeated, as chey are often found on ivories of Eastern tradition. At the corners are circular panels said to date from 976 ; the one with peacocks may do so, but the rude figures of men riding on a lion and on a monster, and fighting with a lion, are unusually barbarous samples of Italo-Byzantine work, if such they be. Below the balcony and on either side of this arch, there are two reliefs. To the left Abraham and Isaac on the way to the mountain of sacrifice. The typical significance is marked by the wound of a nail in the hand which comes from the clouds to stay the act of sacrifice. The relief between the next two arches is an illustra- tion from the mediaeval legend of Alexander the Great. He is seated in a car to which two griffins are har- II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 27 nessed. Above their heads he holds two little animals on the ends of spears, as a bait to tempt them to fly upwards so that he may be raised above the earth. Alexander, having explored all the known earth and the depths of the sea, hoped by this means to investigate the heavens. According to the legend, he was admonished by the words, "Thou who dost not truly know the things of the earth, dost thou seek to know those of Heaven?" Under the next arch is an early symbolical Greek relief of the twelve Apostles as twelve sheep, flanked by palm trees. In the centre the Lamb and the cross enthroned. This is the mystic subject known as " The Preparation of the Throne" for the Last Judgment. The Greek in- scriptions are, "The Holy Apostles," "The Lamb." Here the Greeks avoid the realism of Western art, they present the mystery of the second coming of Christ symbolically. At the four corners are circular reliefs of a barbarous type, representing two eagles and a griffin devouring their prey, the fourth has a monster with four bodies uniting in one head. The last relief is that of Raphael, concluding the series of Archangels begun at the opposite end of the facade. The Upper Facade has decorative work in coloured marbles. The Gothic additions consist of pinnacles, under which are figures of the Virtues. Beginning to the left, Hope (with clasped hands) ; Temperance (with cup and flagon) ; Faith (with cross and chalice) ; Prudence (with mirror) ; Charity (with a child) ; the other two Cardinal virtues are on the south front. The figures under the canopied pin- nacles are St. Michael the Archangel and the four Latin Doctors, St. Gregory, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, and St. Jerome, as interpreters of the four Evangelists. (Jerome bears a church to the extreme L. I cannot myself dis- criminate any symbols of the others.) 28 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [n. South Front. This facade, seen from the Piazzetta, shows more clearly than any other part of the exterior the detail of Byzantine constructions. The first arch of the lower facade as we proceed towards the Doge's Palace contains two Griffins, with a calf and a child respectively in their paws. The ugly Renaissance pediment between them, forming the back of an altar within, harmonises ill with the architecture. The upper facade in this portion is the richest in ornament of the entire building. Its two great arches are filled with elaborate pierced screen-work. In the minor central arch is a famous and specially revered mosaic of the Madonna, before which two lamps are nightly lit. Beneath the base of the two canopies are mosaics of St. Christopher with a child, and St. Nicholas Of Myra. The Gothic additions have, on the gables, Justice, with the sword and scales, and Fortitude, tearing open the lion's mouth. These conclude the series of Virtues (three Theo- logical and four Cardinal) begun on the North Fagade. Under the canopied pinnacles are the two first anchorites, (R.) St. Anthony and (l.) St. Paul the Hermit. Study the whole of this facade in detail carefully. A little beyond and further out into the Piazza stand two square Greek pillars, brought from the church of St. Saba at Ptolemais (St. John of Acre) in 1256 by Lorenzo Tiepolo as a trophy of his victory over the Genoese. They are covered with fine decorative work and Greek monograms. The Latin crosses below were cut on them at Venice. The projecting angle towards the Doge's Palace also forms a portion of St. Mark's, being the outer wall of the Treasury. Its time-stained marble coating retains more of the antique aspect, unspoiled by restoration, than the re- mainder of the building. At the angle is a curious ^porphyry relief of four figures embracing one another in pairs, about which many idle tales are told, but of whose origin and meaning nothing definite is known. They are Greek in > -~^mr C-^-r ^FV^. ■ w APmm II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 29 workmanship, and probably came from Ptolemais. Into the chief portion of the wall between them and the main doorway of the Doge's Palace (the Porta della Carta), several decorative Reliefs have been let into the wall. Some of these panels are closely allied to work of the ninth century at Constantinople. Some have geometrical, others interlacing, and other leaf and foliage designs. The relief with two peacocks feeding on a vine springing from a cup is probably sacramental in intention. Below, is a variant of an ancient Eastern design in which griffins are set on each side of the sacred tree. Originally the griffins were the guardians of treasure ; here they are placed on each side of the vine. In these panels the refinement, the sense of proportion, and feeling for rhythmical quality are delightful. The rest of the exterior of St. Mark's to the south is for the most part hidden by the Doge's Palace and other buildings. The Atrium. The mosaics are amongst the earliest and finest in the building. Enter by the Main Central Door of the West Front or Principal Facade. Its outer gate is of bronze, with lions' heads. Facing you, as you enter it, is the Inner Doorway, in whose lunette is a fine Renaissance mosaic figure of St. Mark, of 1545, after a cartoon by Titian. Beneath this, in exquisite Byzantine niches, are "^mosaics of Our Lady and six Apostles as follows : Andrew, Thomas, Peter, Paul, James, Simon ; and, without niches, Philip and Bartholo- mew, less ancient. Under them, on either side of the door, come the four Evangelists, named, and with a rhyming leonine Latin inscription. The Vestibule, or Atrium, theoretically supposed to be intended for the use of those who have not yet entered the church (i.e., the unbaptised and inquirers or catechumens), is decorated with mosaics (Byzantine in type) representing the chief facts of the Old Testament history. It repre- 30 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [n. sents the Jewish Church, previous to the New Dispensation. The series begins with the Creation, and ends (as usual) with the Fall of the Manna, which last is always regarded as typical of the spiritual food, that is to say, of Christ. The particular episodes selected for illustration are in every case those which mediaeval theologians regarded as foreshadowing the life of the Saviour, or the New Testament history. Precisely similar and almost identical scenes occur as illuminations in the fifth century illuminated Greek Bible (fragmentary) in the Cottonian collection. Turn to the R., and begin with the furthest Cupola next to the Cappella Zen. Seating yourself on the low red seat between the two doors which give towards the Piazza, look up at the cupola. It contains the history of the Creation. Figures in white, varying in number, symbolise the days. [First tier, top or centre :] I. The Spirit of God moves upon the face of the waters. 2. The Lord creates light and darkness, with the First Day. 3. The Lord makes a firmament, with Second Day. 4. The Lord divides the waters above from the waters below. 5. The Lord makes dry land and plants, with Third Day. [Second tier.] 1. The Lord makes lights in the firmament of heaven, symbolised by a starry globe bearing the sun and moon. 2. The Lord makes birds and fishes. 3. The Lord makes living things. The angel-like figures 1 symbolise still the number of the days. 4. The Lord creates the quadrupeds. (Cross over to the other side to see the remainder better.) 5. The Lord makes man as a small dark red figure, not yet living. 6. *The Lord rests on the seventh day and blesses it. The six days of the week, already past, are symbolised by six angels behind the Lord ; the seventh day, personified, 1 The surrounding- inscriptions in Latin are not from the Vulgate but from the old version known as the Italic, which often varies considerably from it, and still more from the English translation. Occasionally phrases are shortened or simplified. I therefore give in each case their rough sense, not the familiar English words, in order to better illustrate the meaning of the mosaics. ii.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 31 is receiving the Lord's blessing. 7. The Lord breathes into man the breath of life, represented by a small winged soul. Note in all these early mosaics the intense symbolism. 8. The Lord takes Adam into Paradise, the four rivers of which are represented by four recumbent River Gods with urns — a classical survival. Many minor symbolic points too numerous to mention may be noted by the curious observer. (Cross over again.) [Third tier.] 1. Adam names the beasts. 2. The Lord puts Adam into a deep sleep, and draws Eve from his side, to the R. *$. The Lord presents Eve to Adam. 4. The serpent tempts Eve. 5. Eve plucks the apple, and (twice represented in the same scene) gives it to Adam. 6. Adam and Eve clothe them- selves with leaves. (Cross over.) 7. The Lord inquires of Adam, who answers, "The woman Thou gavest unto me," etc. 8. The Lord chides Adam and Eve. 9. Adam and Eve hear their sentence of punishment. 10. *The Lord gives Adam and Eve garments (very naive). 12. The Lord expels Adam and Eve from the gate of Paradise ; to the R. they labour outside the garden. (All these subjects are closely copied from Byzantine originals of the fifth century. Designs almost identical are found in the very ancient illuminated Greek Bible of the Cottonian collection in the British Museum.) In the pendentives, below the cupola, are four admirable *six-winged seraphs. Observe how exquisitely they, and the decoration beneath them, are adapted for filling the space assigned them. Under these, over the doorway of St. dement, the history of Genesis is continued. The com- mand to be fruitful and multiply ; the birth of Abel, Cain to the R. ; Cain and Abel offer sacrifices — with an interesting rhyming hexameter. 1 Next, on the wall to the R., over the door into the Cappella Zen — below L., Cain and Abel go 1 As this Guide is intended for general use, I do not transcribe the inscriptions in the text ; but, for the sake of those classical scholars who may desire to have their numerous abbreviations simplified, I have added the whole of those in the Atrium written out at length in an Appendix. 32 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [n. forth into the field ; R. Cain kills Abel ; above, L., Cain is angry ; R., the Lord (represented here and elsewhere in these mosaics by a hand showing from a firmament) inquires of Cain what he has done to his brother. In the arch by the outer portal is the Curse of Cain. On the under side of the arch between this first cupola and the main portal (door of St. Mark) is represented the History of Noah. It begins on the L. side, towards the Piazza. Above, the Lord, as a hand from a firmament (a recurrent point which I will not again notice), gives the command to Noah to build the ark ; then, the building of the ark. Second tier : the clean and unclean animals enter the ark, by sevens and by pairs respectively. Third tier : the family of Noah enter the ark. R. side, towards the church ; above, the deluge (observe the rain) ; Noah sends out the raven and the dove. Secoiid tier : the return of the dove with the olive branch ; the exit from the ark (notice the escaping lion). Third tier: Noah's sacrifice, and the dis- persal of the animals. The lattice-work, with inscription beneath, opposite these last mosaics, forms the totnb of Doge Vitale Falier, made up of antique fragments. The great Doge, in whose reign the body of St. Mark was miraculously recovered, lies in an early Christian sarcophagus. The wife of Doge Vitale Michiel occupies a similar tomb beyond the principal door- way. Continue the series of mosaics beyond the main portal. The mosaics on the under side of the arch between the door of St. Mark and that of St. Peter begin on the inner or R. side. Above : Noah plants a vineyard ; the drunken- ness of Noah ; Ham sees his father's nudity and announces the fact to Shem and Japheth. Below: Shem and Japheth cover their father with a robe ; the curse of Ham : the burial of Noah. L. side, the building of Babel ; from above, the Lord observes it in the heavens ; then, the Lord descends in a glory of angels to confound the languages. The next door is that of St. Peter, with his image in a lunette above it. This section of the Atrium contains the ii.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 33 Story of Abraham ; it begins in the second cupola just above the head of St. Peter, and reads to the R. The Lord chooses Abraham ; next, the departure of Abraham with a great cavalcade of camels from Ur of the Chaldees ; Lot is made prisoner by the king of Sodom ; the meeting of Abraham and Melchisedec, both named ; Abraham's inter- view with the king of Sodom ; Sarah brings Hagar to Abraham ; the flight of Hagar ; the angel comforts Hagar in the wilderness ; the birth of Ishmael ; the institution of the rite of circumcision ; the last subject, very obscure, represents, I think, the circumcision of the stranger " bought with money." In the arch above the figure of St. Peter, L., Abraham receives the three angels : R., he ministers to them at table, while Sarah at the door of the tent laughs at the prediction of the birth of Isaac. Opposite, above the outer door, the birth of Isaac ; his circumcision. In the pende?itives of this cupola are medallions of the Four Greater Prophets. The under side of the arch between the second and third cupolas has a figure of Justice (the first of a series of Virtues which begins here), and the two pillar saints, St. Alipios and St. Simeon Stylites, very curious. Corner cupola, the Story of Joseph ; it begins by the middle of the inner arch, just above the figure of Charity : Joseph's dream of the sheaves which bow down to the twelfth sheaf; Joseph tells his dream to his brothers ; the brothers complain to Jacob, who reproves Joseph ; Jacob sends out Joseph to find his brethren ; Joseph discovers them (notice in these two cases his bundle) ; the brethren hide Joseph in the well ; the brethren feast, while the Ishmaelites approach with their camels ; Joseph is taken out of the well ; the brothers sell him to the Ishmaelites ; the Ishmaelites, with their camels, conduct him to Egypt ; Reuben seeks Joseph in the well ; Jacob's sons show their father the torn and bloody coat, with the grief of Jacob. The ftendentives have medallions of four prophets, Eli, Samuel, Nathan, Habakkuk, holding rolls with inscriptions. 34 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST MARK'S [n. I omit notice of many beautiful decorative bands and arches. The reader must observe these points for himself. The half-dome, at the end of the Atrium, looking N., contains a feeble representation of the Judgment of Solomon, sixteenth century. Beneath it is the tomb of Doge Bartolomeo Gradenigo (d. 1342), consisting of an early Pisan sarcophagus, with Our Lady and Child, St. Mark (his patron as Doge), and St. Bartholomew (his personal patron), presenting the Doge to Our Lady ; at the corners, an Annunciation : beneath is an interesting inscription. Annun- ciations and presentations of the deceased by his patrons are habitual features on Venetian tombs. The under side of the arch between the corner cupola and the first cupola of the northern branch has in its centre a good Byzantine figure of Charity ; R., St. Phocas, the Greek patron saint of sailors, and therefore very appro- priate to a commercial and seafaring city ; L., a poor modern figure of St. Christopher wading through the river with the infant Christ. The first north cupola contains the continuation of the History of Joseph. The mosaics of this portion of the church are remarkable for their increased story-telling faculty, in which respect they are unequalled in St. Mark's. The story begins just over the figure of Hope, in the arch beyond it : Joseph is sold to Potiphar (observe the cos- tumes of the Ishmaelites and the Egyptians) ; Potiphar confides his whole household to Joseph ; Potiphar's wife tempts Joseph ; Joseph flees from Potiphar's wife, leaving his coat behind him ; the woman shows the coat to all her household ; arrest of Joseph, who is condemned to im- prisonment ; Pharaoh, throned and crowned, sends to prison the Chief Baker and the Chief Butler ; the dreams of the Baker and Butler ; Joseph interprets them. The fiendentives continue the story, beginning on the R. (inner, or south-east) angle : Pharaoh recalls the Chief Butler ; the birds devour the Chief Baker ; Pharaoh's dream ; the seven lean kine devour the seven fat ones, v Arch to the R. (between the Butler and Baker) ; above , II.] BYZANTINE VENICE, Pharaoh's dream of the well-favoured and ill-favoured ears ; below: Pharaoh asks the interpretation of his dream of his wise men ; the Chief Butler tells him of Joseph. In the half-dome opposite : feeble and mannered Renaissance mosaic of Joseph interpreting Pharaoh's dream. Beneath it, Doge Marino Morosini (d. 1253) is buried in an early Christian sarcophagus, the inscription on which alone is of his own period. The sarcophagus repre- sents, above, in the centre, Christ, flanked by the twelve Apostles ; in the lower tier, Our Lady and four saints, un- determined, separated by four censers. The style of the sarcophagus is that of the sixth century. Under the arch between this cupola and the next, in the centre, Hope ; beneath it, a beautiful Byzantine mosaic of *St. Agnes, with a modern one of St. Catharine ; then, St. Sylvester the Pope, and a Renaissance figure of San Geminiano (whose church at that time occupied part of the Piazza), from a cartoon by Titian. I will not so minutely describe the subjects in the next two cupolas, as they may by this time, I think, be followed by the reader on the strength of his own scriptural know- ledge. The second north cupola contains the remainder of the History of Joseph, the story in this case beginning at the opposite side from what has hitherto been usual, just above the figure of Hope in the arch last described. The subjects are : Jacob sending his sons to Egypt for corn ; Joseph treats them as spies ; Jacob's sons repent ; Simeon is bound ; the corn is placed in the granaries ; the birth of Ephraim ; the Egyptians clamour for bread ; Joseph opens the granaries. In the pendeniives, the four Evangelists. R. lunette; the sons of Jacob empty their sacks ; Jacob sends Benjamin; Benjamin received by Joseph. On the under side of the arch which spans this lunette are five Roman saints, Cecilia, Cassianus, Cosmo, Damian, Gaudens, and one, restored as St. Marinus, but more probably (since she balances Cecilia,) the virgin saint Marina, who dressed as a man to preserve, her virginity. 36 BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S [n. Arch leading to the next section : the " Queen of the South," holding her roll of prophecy ; below her, St. Nicholas and St. Blaise (Biagio) ; below again, two Domi- nican saints, St. Dominic, and St. Peter Martyr. In the last cupola is the Story of Moses, which may now be safely left to the reader. The fie?idejitives contain four prophets. Over the doorway at the end, known as the Doorway of St. John, is a large mosaic in a half-dome, representing Our Lady with the Child, seated, with her Greek monogram, flanked by St. John the Evangelist and St. Mark ; her throne and cushion are meant to be characteristically Byzantine. But this is a tolerable modern imitation, dating from 1840. It lacks the grandeur and solemnity of the simple old work. It probably replaces an older mosaic of St. John, to whom the door and the chapel opposite (now that of the Blessed Virgin) were formerly dedicated. The Interior. Set out on your examination of the interior by entering at the main portal, or St. Mark's Door (centre of West Front) ; should this be closed, as is sometimes the case, enter by one of the other doors, but return at once to this, at the end of the Nave, or West Arm of the Greek Cross. Many visits are needed to gain a full perception of that severity of choice and that sense of colour which is the note of Byzantine method. The sombre shades of the marble panelling, the dull gleam of gold, and the deep flush of porphyry, make a harmonious whole, whether seen in the early morning, when the lighting is entirely from the small round-headed windows in the domes ; or in the afternoon, when the sunshine streams through the large windows of the S. Transept and the Western Wall. In the appreciation of mosaics, it is to be remembered that the little cubes of which they are composed never present an absolutely flat surface. The coloured mosaics, seen at different angles, send out flashes of coloured light, II.] BYZANTINE VENICE: ST. MARK'S 37 while the gold can appear as a white sparkling metal, or as 1 dead yellow colour, accordingly as the light strikes upon it. These changing effects are part of the charm of mosaic decoration. Dominant Ideas. The main central li?ie or axis of the inner church, from the Door of St. Mark to the Apse at the E. End, is devoted almost entirely to Christ and the chief facts of the Christian religion (but in a subsidiary degree to St. Mark the patron). Contrary to what one might expect, however, the Gospel story begins at the Apse, and ends by the main entrance. If you stand under the Central Dome, in front of the Pres- bytery, this fact will become quite clear to you. In the Apse which faces you, and which forms as it were the focus ACTS AND V £ S " I \m5rah* 1