mosaicist’s art also occurred in areas of the former Western Roman
Empire where the ties with Constantinople were the strongest. In the
Early Byzantine period, Venice, about 80 miles north of Ravenna on
the eastern coast of Italy, was a dependency of that Byzantine strong-
hold. In 751, Ravenna fell to the Lombards, who wrested control of
most of northern Italy from Constantinople. Venice, however, be-
came an independent power. Its doges (dukes) enriched themselves
and the city through seaborne commerce, serving as the crucial link
between Byzantium and the West.
Venice had obtained the relics of Saint Mark from Alexandria in
Egypt in 829, and the doges constructed the first Venetian shrine
dedicated to the evangelist—a palace chapel and martyrium(mar-
tyr’s shrine)—shortly thereafter. Fire destroyed the ninth-century
chapel in 976. The Venetians then built a second shrine on the site,
but a grandiose new church begun in 1063 by Doge Domenico Con-
tarini (r. 1043–1071) replaced it. This building was modeled on the
Church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople, built in Justinian’s
time. That church no longer exists, but its key
elements were a cruciform plan with a central
dome over the crossing and four other domes
over the four equal arms of the Greek cross, as
at Saint Mark’s. Because of its importance to
the city, the doges repeatedly remodeled the
11th-century structure, in time disguising its
lower levels with Romanesque and Gothic
additions. In 1807, Saint Mark’s became the
Cathedral of Venice.
The interior (FIG. 12-24) of Saint Mark’s
is, like its plan, Byzantine in effect. Light enters
through a row of windows at the bases of all
five domes, vividly illuminating a rich cycle of
mosaics. Both Byzantine and local artists
worked on Saint Mark’s mosaics over the
course of several centuries. Most of the mosaics
date to the 12th and 13th centuries. Cleaning
and restoration on a grand scale have returned the mosaics to their
original splendor, enabling visitors to experience the full radiance of
mosaic (some 40,000 square feet of it) as it covers the walls, arches,
vaults, and domes, as if it were a gold-brocaded figured fabric.
In the vast central dome, 80 feet above the floor and 42 feet in di-
ameter, Christ ascends to Heaven in the presence of the Virgin Mary
and the 12 apostles. The great arch framing the church crossing bears
a narrative of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ and of his
liberation from death (Anastasis) of Adam and Eve, Saint John the
Baptist, and other biblical figures. The mosaics have explanatory la-
bels in both Latin and Greek, reflecting Venice’s position as the key
link between eastern and western Christendom in the later Middle
Ages. The insubstantial figures on the walls, vaults, and domes appear
weightless, and they project no farther from their flat field than do
the elegant Latin and Greek letters above them. Nothing here reflects
on the world of matter, of solids, of light and shade, of perspective
space. Rather, the mosaics reveal the mysteries of the Christian faith.Middle Byzantine Art 33112-24Interior of Saint Mark’s (looking east),
Venice, Italy, begun 1063.
Saint Mark’s has a central dome over the
crossing and four other domes over the four
equal arms of the Greek cross. The walls and
vaults are covered with 40,000 square feet of
dazzling mosaics.12-24APala
d’Oro,Saint
Mark’s, Venice,
ca. 1105.12-24B
Archangel
Michael icon,
Venice,
ca. 1100.