St Mark's Basilica

ADITYA KUMARBARN1AR14002

Byzantine and Gothic architecture

Basic informationLocation Venice, Italy

Domenico I Contarini Domenico I Contarini

Affiliation Roman Catholic

District Patriarch of Venice

Year consecrated 1084-1117

Ecclesiastical or organizational status

CathedralMinor basilica

Leadership Francesco Moragli

INTRODUCTION:-• The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark is the cathedral church of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice, northern Italy.• It is the most famous of the city's churches and one of the best known examples

of Italo-Byzantine architecture.• The present basilica was completed in 1071. The plan is a Greek cross, and the

building is surmounted by five domes.• Over the centuries, additions of sculpture, mosaics, and ceremonial objects have

increased the church’s richness. The famed four bronze horses on the west facade gallery, for example, were brought to Venice at the time of the Fourth Crusade (1204) from Constantinople.

• The floor is of inlaid marble and glass. In the restricted light their colours glow.

Specifications

Length 76.50 metres (251.0 ft)

Width 62.50 metres (205.1 ft)

Dome(s) 5

Dome height (outer)

43 metres (141 ft)

Dome height (inner)

28.15 metres (92.4 ft)

PLAN :-

Interior:-• The interior is based on a Greek cross, with each arm

divided into three naves with a dome of its own as well as the main dome above the crossing.

• The dome above the crossing and the western dome are bigger than the other three.

• This is based on Constantine's Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.

• The marble floor (12th century, but underwent many restorations) is entirely tessellated in geometric patterns and animal designs.

• The techniques used were opus sectile and opus tessellatum.

• The lower register of walls and pillars is completely covered with polychrome marble slabs.

• The transition between the lower and the upper register is delimited all around the basilica by passageways which largely substituted the former galleries.

Exterior:-• The exterior of the west facade of the basilica is divided in three registers: lower, upper, and domes.• In the lower register of the façade, five round-arched portals, enveloped by polychrome marble columns,

open into the narthex through bronze-fashioned doors.• The upper level of mosaics in the lunettes of the lateral ogee arches has scenes from the Life of Christ.• The four bronze horses are shown in their place on the facade. • We can for once get a good idea of the original compositions of the mosaics from paintings and other

depictions, especially Gentile Bellini's very large Procession in Piazza San Marco in the Gallerie dell ‘ Accademia.

• The stone sculpture is relatively limited at the lower level, where a forest of columns and patterned marble slabs are the main emphases.

• It includes relatively narrow bands of Romanesque work on the portals, richly carved borders of foliage mixed with figures to the ogee arches and other elements, and large shallow relief saints between the arches.

• In the upper register, from the top of ogee arches, statues of Theological and Cardinal Virtues, four Warrior Saints, Constantine, Demetrius, George, Theodosius and St Mark watch over the city.

• Above the large central window of the façade, under St Mark, the Winged Lion.• In the centre of the balcony the famous bronze horses face the square.

Narthex or porch:-• The 13th century, the narthex or porch embraced the western arm of the basilica on

the three sides.• It was first built is uncertain but was probably the 13th century.• Later the southern part was closed to obtain the Baptistery (14th century) and the Zen

Chapel (16th century).• The narthex prepares the visitors’ eyes for the atmosphere of the gilded interior, just

as the Old Testament stories represented in its 13th-century mosaic ceiling prepare them for the New Testament decoration in the interior.

• On the wall above and at the sides of the main doorway are the Four Evangelists and saints, 11th-century mosaics, the oldest in the building, that decorated the old facade to St Mark’s even before the narthex was built.

The Tetrarchs:-• In an attempt to stabilise the Roman Empire

after the crisis of the third century, the Emperor Diocletian imposed a new Imperial office structure: a four co-emperor ruling plan called The Tetrarchy.

• The famous porphyry statue of the Four Tetrarchs represents the interdependence of the four rulers.

• It was taken from Constantinople, during the Fourth Crusade in 1204, and set into the south-west corner of the basilica

MOSAICS• Basilica of San Marco, the first images that come to mind

are those of the mosaics and their golden backgrounds. • Mosaics cover more than 8000 square meters walls, vaults

and domes of St. Mark's Basilica.• Byzantine in its architectural concept, the basilica is the

mosaic its natural integrating element.• The mosaic decoration develops in about eight centuries

of history of the basilica.• The mosaics of St. Mark's Basilica depicting stories from

the Bible (Old and New Testament), allegorical figures, events in the life of Christ, the Virgin, St. Mark and other saints.

• The mosaics, in which dominate the warm colors, particularly gold, adorn the wide space of the basilica, which measures 28 meters wide and reaches 21 in height in the arcades.

• The space is enveloped in dim light, such as in the Middle Eastern churches, which continuously varies at different times of day, with striking effects and intense ..

• The mosaics of San Marco are the most significant testimony of history, the aspirations, the faith of Venice and the evolution of languages and trends that have characterized his art.

• from the greek-Byzantine origin, the indigenous artistic expressions and ability to interpret and customize imported from outside messages up to today, difficult art of preservation and restoration of this precious and complex artifacts.

Mosaic of the translation of the body of Saint Mark

Horses of Saint Mark- Lysippos• The Horses of Saint Mark were

installed on the balcony above the portal of the basilica in about 1254.

• The horses were long displayed at the Hippodrome of Constantinople, and in 1204 Doge Enrico Dandolo sent them back to Venice as part of the loot sacked from Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade.

• The horses now on the facade of the cathedral are bronze replicas.

Detail of the gable showing Venice's patron apostle St. Mark

with angels. Underneath is a winged lion, the symbol of the

saint and of Venice.

10th-century gold and enamel Byzantine icon of St Michael,

in the treasury

Dome with Pentecost and

pendentives with angels