Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/169

Rh ART.] VENICE 151 ciatc, and to the protector St Mark.&quot; The form of the church as then completed was quite different from its present aspect, both in extent of plan and in absence of rich decoration. Fig. 2 shows the si/e of the older church, which was originally of the simple basilica form with three eastern apses and no transepts. 1 One very interest ing relic of the old ducal palace still exists, namely, the lower part of one of its towers, with walls 11 feet thick ; this was made into the treasury of St Mark when the church was enlarged so as to include it in its plan, at the west corner of the south transept. Recent processes of &quot;restoration&quot; have shown the external design of this early church, which was of plain red brick, undecorated by marble or mosaics, and only relieved by very simple blank arcading, with round arches, not unlike those an some early Norman build ings in England.&quot; By degrees the church was enlarged : first of all transepts were added, then the baptistery on the south and the atrium extending along the west and north of the nave, about 1150-1200. Next chapels were added north and south of the two transepts : that of St Isidore was built and finished in 1354 by Andrea Dandolo. In the Ifith century the sacristy at the east end was added, the altar of St Peter in the north apse being removed to make a passage to it ; another way to the sacristy for the use of the clergy was cut through the massive wall of the main apse. During the long period from its dedication in 10S5 till the overthrow of the Venetian re public by Napoleon every doge s reign saw some addition to the rich decorations of the church mosaics, sculpture, wall linings, or columns of preciou? marbles. By degrees the whole walls inside and outside were completely faced either with glass mosaics on gold grounds or with precious coloured marbles and porphyries, plain white marble being only used for sculpture, and then thickly covered with gold. It is impossible here to give an adequate notion of the splendour of the whole effect ; nothing short of the eloquence of Mr Ruskin can do justice to the subject. 3 Unfortunately the whole wall surface of the interior is so stained and caked with dirt that much of the gorgeous effect of the marbles is lost. Decor - The general scheme of decoration is the following. The whole tion. of the domes and vaults, and the upper part of the Avails down to the level of the floor of the triforium, are completely covered with mosaics of brilliant glass tesserae, the ground being in most cases of gold. Ik-low this every inch of the surface of the walls and arches is covered with richly coloured marbles, porphyries, and alabaster, relieved by pure white marble, sculptured in panels, string courses, and the like. The various marbles are arranged in broad upright bands, alternating so that one colour enhances the effect of that next to it. For example, the nave wall in the north aisle is faced thus, (1) verde antico, (2) Proconncsian, (3) red broc- catello of Verona, (4) Proconnesian, (5) magnificent Oriental ala baster, (6) Proconnesian, and (7) verde antico ; below these is a narrow band of red Verona marble, and then a plinth-moulding of Athenian white marble, which rests on the seat of panelled red marble that runs all round the interior of the nave and transepts. The large columns between the brick piers, six in the nave and eight in the transepts (see fig. 2), are monoliths of fine Proconnesian marble, veined with greyish blue and amber, and the great brick piers are faced with thin slabs of the same material. This facing and most of that throughout the church are made of ancient columns sawn into slices. Crypts. The eastern crypt or confessio extends under the whole of the choir behind the rood-screen, and has three apses like the upper church. The body of St Mark was originally placed here, but is now within the high altar of the upper church. Below the nave is an older crypt, the existence of which has only recently been discovered ; it is not accessible, having been filled in with earth and rubbish at a very early period. Choir The choir, which is raised about 4 feet above the nave, is sepa- and rated from it by a marble rood-screen, formed of ancient columns, rood- bearing a straight architrave surmounted by fourteen statues, viz., screen. St Mark, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the twelve apostles. It extends across the aisles, forming a north apsidal chapel of St Peter and a southern one to St Clement. The rood-screen is signed 1 ! . G. Jackson, in liis work on Dalmntia arid Istria (Oxford, 18S7), vol. Hi., gives an interesting account and valuable illustrations of the early churches at Parenzo, Graclo, and Aquile.ia, which in their sculptured capitals, mosaics, and other details closely resembled the, early portions of St Mark s. Large quantities of the sculpture and rich marbles used in Venice were brought from Grado, Aquileia, and other cities in the same district, the buildings of which were to a great extent the prototypes of those built in Venice before the i:ith century. In later times the flood of influence passed in the opposite direction, and during the 14th and 1 5th centuries an immense number of palaces and churches were built in the Venetian style, by architects from Venice, all along the eastern shores of the Adriatic. The result is that in these Istrian cities examples are to be seen of what appears to be the architecture of Venice during its whole course of development from the 12th to the 15th century. - The exterior of the church of St Demetrius at Thessalonica is covered with simple brick arcading, very like that which still exists in many places behind the. marble lining of St Mark s. 3 The (irst edition of the Stiiiies of Venice, together with an unfinished series of folio plates, most of them exquisitely drawn by Mr Ruskin himself, was published in 18. r )2 ; a carefully executed reprint of both was issued in 1S8&amp;lt;&amp;gt;. This is one of the noblest monographs on any architectural subject that has ever been written. as the work of the Venetians Jacobello and Pietro Paolo, sons of Antonio delle Masegne, 1394-97. The rood itself is of silver, dated 1394 and signed &quot;Jacobus Magistri Marci Benato de Venetiis.&quot; The workmanship both of the silver crucifix and of the fourteen statues is of no great excellence. In front of the screen stand two very large ambones or pulpits, one of porphyry and the other of verde antico. In the northern ambo is a lofty patriarch s throne under a metal domed canopy, curiously like a pulpit in a Moslem mosque. There are fine marble baldacchini, supported on columns of precious marbles, over the high altar, two in the transepts, and one on the north side of the nave. No less than five hundred columns of porphyry and costly marbles are used to decorate the church, especially on the west front. Some of those inside the atrium have no constructional use, but are only set against the wall for the sake of their beauty and value. A whole volume might be written on the sculptured capitals, Columns panels, screens, and other features of the church. A great part of and these are the spoils of other churches, especially from the East ; capitals, much of the sculpture, as, e.g., the parapets along the triforium gallery, dates from the 6th century or even earlier. 4 In the richly carved capitals every style from the 4th to the 12th century is represented, many of them being marvels of delicacy combined with extreme spirit of execution. Some of the larger caps are partially covered with a rich basket-work pattern completely under-cut with great technical skill ; others have vine or acanthus foliage treated with vigorous realism ; and a large number have the revived Byzaii- tine treatment of the classic Corinthian or Ionic capitals, with variations showing the richest power of invention and originality. In addition to the elaborate sculpture, some of the capitals are de- corated with inlaid patterns ; and many of the mouldings, such as the capping of the triforium screen, are also ornamented in the same way. This use of inlay is almost peculiar to St Mark s, as is also the method of enriching sculptured reliefs with backgrounds of brilliant gold and coloured glass mosaics, producing an effect of extraordinary magnificence. 5 The exterior is no less magnificent than the inside, the whole Exterior, facades being covered with sculpture, mosaic, or slabs of rich marble. The west facade especially is a marvel of lavish expenditure both of labour and of costly material. The design consists of two main stages, the lower one being formed by the atrium, a 12th-century addition, in front of the older fa9ade. Each stage is divided into five great arches, decorated with richly sculptured archivolts and with tympana filled in with mosaic pictures. Only one of Un original mosaics now exists on this front ; all the rest have been destroyed and replaced by others of very inferior style in the 17th and 18th centuries. The one original mosaic is over the northern most of the four doorways into the western atrium ; its date is about or soon after 1220. It is of great decorative beauty, and its subject the translation into the church of the body of St Mark is of great interest from its careful representation of the west fa9ade of the church as it was at the beginning of the 13th century. It shows the original form of the upper part of the facade before the addition in the 14th century of the large ogee gables with elaborate crockets, alternating with statues, and intermediate pinnacled canopies placed between the five great arches of the upper story. It also shows the marble screen-work which once filled the great central west window, the whole of which is now missing, only the columns which supported it being left. Similar filling-in still exists in some of the large side windows. The lower or atrium story is enriched with a wonderful collection of columns of precious marbles and porphyries arranged in two tiers. The sculptured archivolts, with foliage mixed with figures or subjects in relief, are of great beauty and variety. They are all carved in fine white Athenian marble, and were once gilt, as appears to have been the case with nearly all the sculptured ornaments of St Mark s. This extensive use of gold is clearly shown in Gentile Bellini s picture. The top of the atrium forms a wide upper gallery communicating with the interior at the triforium level. In the centre of this gallery stand the four colossal bronze horses, from some Gra-co- Roman triumphal quadriga, which were brought to Venice after the conquest of Constantinople by Enrico Dandolo in 1204. 7 The roofs, including the five great external domes over the nave, Roofs. choir, transepts, and crossing, are all covered with thick sheets of lead. The internal domes, like the rest of the vaults, are of brick, the external domes being of wood. The drums on which the outer domes rest are bound round with strong iron bands, which were 4 The church of St Demetrius at Thessalonica contains many sculptured panels and other decorations exactly similar in style to those of St Mark s ; and other churches in Thessalonica and Trebizond have mosaic paving and glass wall-mosaics closely resembling those in St Mark s. Even the plan ol the Venetian basilica is Oriental in origin. 5 The most notable examples are over the doorways of the western atrium. 6 This tracery, or rather screen-work, was removed before 14P(&amp;gt;, when Gentile Bellini painted his pictm-e of the Piazza and West Front of St Mark s. This very interesting picture shows the lost mosaics, the subjects of which appear to have been the same as those now existing. 7 These bronze horses were carried off to Paris, with many other art treasures. by Napoleon in 17!7 ; they were restored to their place in 1815 by Francis of Austria, as is recorded in a large inscription on the arch below them.