eRESTAURANT NFC

Chronology: Late 1300 to 1500

(Cronologia: Fine 1300 - 1500)

(Chronologie : Fin 1300 à 1500)

Late 1300 - early 1400: Gothic decoration of the facade with spiers, aedicules, sculptures of angels and saints; 1419: Fire on the front of the roof of the basilica; First half of 1400: Intervention by Tuscan artists (Maestro Nicolò and Pietro Lamberti and perhaps Jacopo della Quercia) in the sculptures of the facade: Florentine artists in the mosaics of the basilica (Paolo Uccello is documented in 1425); Mid 1400s: Mosaic ornamentation in the Mascoli Chapel; 1486: Construction of the Sacristy next to the apse (followed by the reconstruction of the church of San Teodoro by Giorgio Spavento, proto of the basilica); 1496: Documentation of the exterior of the basilica in the framework of Gentile Bellini: Procession of the relic in Piazza San Marco;

Architectural layout: introduction

(Impianto architettonico: introduzione)

(Disposition architecturale : introduction)

The basilica of San Marco, begun in 1063, was built on the foundations and walls of a previous church, also dedicated to the saint. The model for this new church, much larger than the previous one, is the basilica of the twelve apostles of Constantinople. The new structure is in the form of a Greek cross with the longitudinal nave slightly longer than the transept limited by the pre-existing buildings (ancient castle to the south and the church of San Teodoro to the north). At the intersection and on the arms of the cross the five large domes rise. The architectural layout is very articulated and repeats a single module clearly identifiable in the central dome which rests, through the pendentives and large vaults, on the four pillars. Both arms of the cross are divided into three naves. The atrium with its domes was built a century after the church was built. The Baptistery, on the other hand, was built on the southern front of the basilica in the first half of the 14th century. Under the presbytery and the side chapels there is the crypt with three aisles and the ancient chapel that has guarded the body of San Marco for centuries. The idea of architecture underlying the basilica of San Marco is strongly rooted in the cultural context of Constantinople. The model is the Church of the Twelve Apostles, built in the time of Justinian and destroyed in 1462. The current basilica is placed on a ground already built, above the remains of the first and second church, in the space available between the Doge's Palace and the church of San Teodoro (810-819). A bold solution, which combines, in the 11th century, the memories, consisting of the tomb with the relics of the body of San Marco, with the Greek cross plan of a new large church with five domes, the prestigious “Ducal Chapel”. In San Marco each dome rests on four large vaults which unload their weight on quadripartite pillars. The interior is proposed with a unitary sequence divided into individual spatial scores, to which the mosaic with a gold background guarantees continuity and the particular way of being of the church. Unlike the Greek models, the altar, linked to the tomb of the evangelist, is not in the center of the cross, but under the eastern dome, that of the presbytery. In later times the basilica underwent substantial changes: the narthex was added, a Gothic rose window opened towards the Doge's Palace and the stained glass window of the horses in the facade, varying the very atmosphere of the ancient factory. Each modification is linked to structural, political or representation reasons.

Architectural layout: the interior

(Impianto architettonico: l'interno)

(Aménagement architectural : l'intérieur)

The main entrance from the west has a wooden door from the end of the 10th century, covered with copper plates and older bronze gratings. To the right and left are the entrances of San Clemente and San Pietro. At the north end of the facade, that of Sant 'Alipio. In the north arm, the Porta dei Fiori is also enclosed by a bronze gate. From the narthex you enter the church through four doors: the central one, that of San Clemente and that of San Pietro, in correspondence with the chapels of the same name, and, to the north, the door of the Madonna or of San Giovanni. On the south front, on the edge of the porta da mar, between the door and an ancient corner tower, the baptistery was built, characterized by two domes and a vault that connects it with the structures of the Zen chapel. The tower, of uncertain function, transformed with the construction of the third San Marco, is internally connected to the church and to the walls of the building incorporated in the head of the south transept. The artifact now houses the Treasury and the Shrine with the relics.

Architectural layout: the crypt

(Impianto architettonico: la cripta)

(Aménagement architectural : la crypte)

Under the presbytery and the side chapels there is the crypt with three aisles with apses. In the central, under the main altar is the ancient chapel in which the body of the evangelist was kept. The crypt is covered by crossed barrel vaults, supported by columns with Byzantine capitals with simple basket decoration, dating from the late 10th to the 11th century. To the west of the crypt, at a lower level, there is a space called "retrocripta" with the tombs of the patriarchs of Venice from 1807. Due to repeated fires, the women's galleries that covered the aisles of the west, north and south arms of the cross are been eliminated. The only galleries left are those above the wall structures: above the narthex, the chapel of Sant'Isidoro, the walls bordering the palace and the half-arches of the apses in the chapels of San Pietro and San Clemente. All the others are reduced to simple steps. The ducal area is defined in the church in the south transept, closely connected to the palace through passages and windows at different levels; the area belonging to the primicerium and the priests of San Marco in the north transept, linked to the respective rectory. Around the church the height and importance of the buildings increase by reducing the light inside the sacred building. At the beginning of the fifteenth century, the Serenissima decided to create two large mouths of light, the stained glass window of the horses on the facade and the rose window in the south transept towards the doges' palace.

Architectural layout: the domes

(Impianto architettonico: le cupole)

(Disposition architecturale : les dômes)

The domes, that of the Ascension in the center, of the Prophets on the presbytery, of Pentecost above the nave, of San Giovanni on the north arm and of San Leonardo on the south arm of the transept are made up of a masonry hemisphere resting on large support vaults . Around 1260 the masonry domes were covered with larger wooden domes surmounted by a small dome on which a golden cosmic cross rests. Lead plates 2-3 mm thick cover the wooden domes and the front fairing

The construction: introduction

(La costruzione: introduzione)

(Le chantier : présentation)

The current basilica of San Marco was begun in 1063 when the doge Domenico Contarini entrusted the construction of the church to an architect, probably Greek, who used ancient foundations and ancient walls of pre-existing buildings. The church was consecrated on 8 October 1094, when the body of San Marco was definitively placed in a marble ark placed in the center of the crypt under the main altar. Since then the basilica has been continuously modified, enlarged, covered with marble and mosaics, adorned with columns and statues. The mosaic decoration began in 1071. During the 12th century the essential core of the iconographic plan of the interior was created. Other important cycles are carried out in the following centuries. In the first decades of the thirteenth century the image of the basilica undergoes substantial changes: the facades are covered with polychrome marble and the domes covered with higher domes in wood covered with lead, so that they can be seen in the distance. The basilica is a sort of living organism in constant change over the centuries of its history.

The construction: insights

(La costruzione: approfondimenti)

(La construction : aperçus)

The basilica of San Marco as we see it today is the third church built on the same site and dedicated to the saint. A first church, intended as the saint's sepulcher, was built after the year 828 when the Venetians transported the body of St. Mark from Alexandria in Egypt, from where it was stolen. On the shape of this first church, only hypotheses based on the few archaeological finds are possible. Surely the first San Marco is smaller than the current one. The modified structure of this church will become the current crypt. In 976 a fire spread from the ducal palace to the church, largely destroying it. A second basilica arises from the restoration that follows the destruction. The construction of the third and last basilica began in 1063. Modifications and transformations lasted for centuries. It is possible to hypothesize three phases in the third San Marco, coherent with the sequence of political events and connected to three doges of the Serenissima: Domenico Contarini, Domenico Selvo and Vitale Falier. Domenico Contarini began construction in 1063. From 1071 Domenico Selvo began the mosaic decoration inside the unfinished church. Vitale Falier consecrates it and dedicates it to San Marco on 8 October 1094. Once this phase is completed, the church appears with five lowered domes, full of columns, cornices and capitals ordered in Constantinople and characterized by a Romanesque language, especially in the brick walls. The first twenty years of the new basilica were crossed by disastrous events, great fires and earthquakes. In this period, the pre-existing walls of San Teodoro and the Palazzo Ducale were incorporated into the north and south fronts to stiffen the domed system that was not sufficiently stable. In 1177 the doge Sebastiano Ziani built a terrace on the whole front and certainly widened or completed the west narthex. From the terrace you can see the new Piazza San Marco, obtained after the coverage of the Rio Batario.

The construction: the 13th century - the glory

(La costruzione: il XIII secolo - la gloria)

(La construction : le 13ème siècle - la gloire)

With the conquest of Constantinople in 1204 Venice became the main actor of the IV Crusade. The contact with oriental architecture pushes the Serenissima to adapt its image to that of the capital. The architecture of the 12th century church, recently completed, lives a short season. In the first decades of the thirteenth century the large arches of the facade were covered with marble slabs. The ships bring to Venice stone materials collected during their voyages to the East: columns and capitals, entire marble complexes dismantled from decaying buildings or purchased by the Venetians themselves. Most of these "trophies" are placed on the brick facades. The wooden domes covered with lead are raised, so as to be seen from the sea. We are at the end of the second half of the thirteenth century. Venice is at the height of its glory and commercial power. A church of polychrome marble and mosaics stands on a red brick square while the facades of the buildings that surround it are largely frescoed.

Construction: 14th century

(La costruzione: XIV secolo)

(Construction : 14ème siècle)

The Doge Andrea Dandolo (1343-1354), an illustrious historian and friend of Petrarch, was responsible for important interventions, conceived by him when he still held the office of Procurator of San Marco: he had the baptistery built (first half of the 14th century) which occupies a an area that is believed to have been an ancient open portico, passing between the Doge's Palace and the church, where the Doge is still buried. In the second half of the century Andrea Dandolo also built the chapel of Sant 'Isidoro, next to the north transept.

Construction: 15th century

(La costruzione: XV secolo)

(Construction : XVe siècle)

The great fire of 1419 closes the Byzantine and Venetian era of the church and opens that of a building site run by Tuscan stone stonecutters. The lunettes of the upper register of the facades are decorated under the guidance of Nicolò Lamberti. From 1425 to 1433 the proto Paolo di Dono, known as Paolo Uccello, codifies the use of cardboard in the creation of the mosaic. In this century the mosaic decoration of the Mascoli Chapel was also made, with scenes from the life of the Virgin.

The construction: XVI - XVII - XVIII century

(La costruzione: XVI - XVII - XVIII secolo)

(La construction : XVI - XVII - XVIII siècle)

From 1529 to 1570 Jacopo Sansovino, the proto of San Marco, works in the basilica. He was responsible for the encircling of the domes and the system of the buttresses, to contain the thrust of the raised domes covered in lead. Make the altar of the Blessed Sacrament in the presbytery, like the door of Paradise, the statues of the evangelists and the large baptismal font in the baptistery. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, new large mosaics were created to replace the old ruined ones and the systematic maintenance of the church was carried out.

The construction: 19th century

(La costruzione: XIX secolo)

(La construction : XIXe siècle)

With the fall of the Republic in 1797, Napoleon divides the church from the Doge's Palace in 1807 and assigns it to the patriarch. The premises for a new life are created for the church of San Marco, now no longer the ducal chapel, but the new cathedral of Venice. The monument is the subject of liturgical adaptations and conservation. The first nineteenth-century construction site sees Austria engaged in 46 years of activity. From 1853 to 1866 the engineer Giovambattista Meduna directed the works. The engineer Pietro Saccardo succeeded them in 1887 until 1902. The Meduna and the Saccardo are two sides of the way of dealing with conservation. The first with the replacement of deteriorated pieces, then absolutely normal, the second with the absolute conservation of everything, according to the thesis of John Ruskin who recognizes in the materiality of the monuments the signs of the passion and technical ability of the builders of the past. The restoration of the south facade, carried out by Meduna from 1865 to 1875, closes the period of replacements and opens that of pure conservation. In 1881 Saccardo set up the Mosaic Studio, still functioning today, which deals with the conservation of the mosaic mantle.

The construction: 20th century - the fall of the bell tower

(La costruzione: XX secolo - la caduta del campanile)

(La construction : XXe siècle - la chute du clocher)

On July 14, 1902, around 10 in the morning, the bell tower of San Marco collapses almost suddenly, falling on itself. After the fall, the new proto Manfredo Manfredi implements rigorous attention to every structural aspect of the basilica. Luigi Marangoni accompanies him and experiments with the restoration of the mosaics without removing them from their original position after having removed the walls behind them. The “restoration from behind” avoids creating the evidence of detached and reapplied mosaic squares. In 1948 Ferdinando Forlati replaced it by proposing new solutions to consolidate the pillars. According to the suggestion of Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, first patriarch and then Pope John XXIII, he carries out the rotation of the plutei, inserted in the iconostasis that divides the presbytery from the nave, a Gothic masterpiece (1394) by the Dalle Masegne brothers, allowing maximum visibility of the liturgical functions. In the current phase, the Basilica of San Marco is making use of the experiences of two centuries of cutting-edge interventions in technology and in the history of restoration in Italy and in the world. The Procuratoria di San Marco, through a group of technicians and restorers led by the proto, takes care of every piece of the monument, using both ancient and modern techniques to avoid the loss of this living legacy of a past in which East and West are recognized.

The floor: introduction

(Il pavimento: introduzione)

(Le sol : introduction)

In the upper Adriatic arch there are numerous examples of mosaic floors, but that of San Marco stands out for the grandeur, preciousness and rarity of the oriental, western and north African marbles used, as well as for the splendor of the enamels and for the variety of scenes taken from the symbolism and medieval literature or inspired by Eastern and Western fabrics. The whole is based on a very complex iconographic program for us, but easier to understand for the man of the Middle Ages. The marble floor covers the entire area of the basilica from the very beginning like a large oriental carpet characterized by different types of workmanship. Among all the opus sectile prevails, where the juxtaposed pieces of marble form the most varied geometric figures. There are also figures of animals (peacocks, eagles, doves, roosters, foxes) which refer to the symbolic meanings of medieval bestiaries. The floor underlines, both in the atrium and in the interior, the focal points of the architectural structure. This very precious artifact has undergone continuous restorations and renovations over the centuries, with many replacements due to the fragility of the material and the wear it has always been subjected to.

The floor: a carpet of 2099 meters

(Il pavimento: un tappeto di 2099 metri)

(Le sol : un tapis de 2099 mètres)

The floor of the basilica of San Marco is a real marble carpet that extends for 2099 square meters. Following the assumptions of Byzantine religious architecture, also for San Marco the principle of the bipartition between the earthly area (floor and walls) and the celestial part (vaults and domes) was respected, the destination and function of which are underlined by the different covering material of the walls. . The upper part of the building takes on a conspicuously celestial and metaphysical connotation, due to the light produced by the glass tiles in various colors or gold leaf, symbolizing the heavenly light. The lower area, on the other hand, emphasizes the earthly nature due to the texture of the marble of the walls (rich in colors, but dull, and of geometric signs) and of the floor.

The floor: opus sectile and opus tessellatum

(Il pavimento: opus sectile e opus tessellatum)

(Le sol : opus sectile et opus tessellatum)

The opus sectile (obtained from the combination of pieces of marble of various colors that form the most varied geometries) and the opus tessellatum (obtained from very small pieces of marble or glass able to give life to floral figures coexist in the floor. or animal welfare) with a clear prevalence in San Marco of the first over the second. Both techniques originate in antiquity, as documented by Varrone, Vitruvius and Pliny. The coexistence of the two techniques in the basilica of Marciana testifies to the wide availability of means of the duchy not only for the hoarding of precious marbles, but also to guarantee the workforce of artisans who, in all probability, like the architects and mosaicists , are brought to Venice from Constantinople or Byzantine Greece. The whole floor is born from the combination of various panels of different sizes and with geometric and figurative motifs; other surfaces in very bright areas, such as those below the domes of Pentecost and Ascension, are covered with large slabs of Greek Proconnesian marble, one of the first marbles to be cut into slabs.

The floor: the geometries

(Il pavimento: le geometrie)

(Le sol : les géométries)

The organization of the geometries is regular and the dislocation possibly respects the principles of symmetry. The central nave has a succession of large, rather linear decorations. At the entrance there is a large rectangle decorated in a herringbone pattern which includes a smaller central rectangle with similar decoration. Proceeding towards the presbytery we find a second large rectangle that includes two rows of polychrome rhombuses and rote (“wheels”), interspersed with four squares that alternate with three rhombuses. The arms of the transept contain two squares: the northern one includes decorations of five major Byzantine rote and four minor ones interposed between one and the other. In the southern one, a framed diamond pattern carpet is followed, towards the south, by four Byzantine wheels. In this rigorously geometric scheme, symbolic animals and floral elements are found on the margins, among which the two pairs of peacocks in the right or southern aisle, which are almost intact, stand out for their chromatic preciousness and executive refinement.

Stones and marbles: introduction

(Le pietre e i marmi : introduzione)

(Pierres et marbres : introduction)

After the conquest of Constantinople in 1204, Venice has the opportunity to dispose of a large quantity of precious marbles belonging to sacred and profane buildings of the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. Many marble artifacts arrive in San Marco that decorate the facades and the interior of the basilica. The most varied marbles are used in a symbolic function, depending on their characteristics and their color.

Stones and marbles: marble materials

(Le pietre e i marmi : i materiali marmorei)

(Pierres et marbres : matériaux marbrés)

The marble elements are an extremely interesting aspect in the decoration of the basilica, whether they concern the coverings or the liturgical furnishings. Most of these pieces are reused material and mostly come from buildings in Constantinople or regions connected to it. The importation of these artifacts to Venice is documented starting from the 11th century, but it is following the events of the Crusade of 1204 that the influx of marbles becomes more massive. In the program of the decoration of San Marco the late antique criterion is followed, which also takes into account, for the marble materials, their characteristics of color and composition, used in a symbolic function. The marbles are used to emphasize certain functions or the importance of certain spaces, following a practice that survives from late antiquity in the symbolic-decorative tradition of the Byzantine Empire and partly also in the Western Middle Ages.

Stones and marbles: red porphyry

(Le pietre e i marmi : il porfido rosso)

(Pierres et marbres : porphyre rouge)

The most precious stone is red porphyry, linked to the imperial symbolism from the late antique age, associated with purple, substance and color symbol of royalty and divinity. Of this marble are composed, among others, the group of Tetrarchs (south facade) and the Doge's tribune (interior). At the time when the Venetians built San Marco, the purple, and consequently the porphyry, are linked to a strong imperial and divine symbolism typical of the Byzantine Empire: being in front of a porphyry artifact means having an object linked to a imperial commission. In San Marco the use of porphyry is linked to those arrangements that serve to underline the political greatness and glory of Venice, without any religious implication: the group of Tetrarchs in the corner of the Treasury to highlight the entrance to the ducal palace, the columns placed as decoration of the central door of the west facade of the basilica almost like a triumphal arch, or at the corners of the facade itself, as if to delimit a royal space. Inside the basilica, the only porphyry elements are found in the so-called southern “ambo”, originally the doge's tribune, another symbol of power. Sometimes, in the absence of porphyry, the iassense marble, of a dark red color veined with white, was used, especially for wall coverings, only for decorative purposes. Another precious marble with purple or reddish spots, the docimio or pavonazzetto marble is always present in a privileged position, like the columns placed in the apse.

The stones and marbles: the other marbles

(Le pietre e i marmi : gli altri marmi)

(Les pierres et marbres : les autres marbres)

According to the hierarchy of imperial marbles, green marbles follow after porphyry (such as serpentine, used in San Marco for small objects or green from Thessaly), then black and white from Aquitaine. The green of Thessaly and the black-white of Aquitaine are used in the imperial context for sarcophagi and facing plates. In San Marco the breach of Aquitaine is present in the form of column shafts, decorating the doors of the narthex or the main portal of the west facade or that of the southern facade; the green breach of Thessaly, more widespread, is used, as well as for column shafts, also for lining slabs, elements of liturgical furnishings, such as the northern ambo, used for liturgical readings, and the ciborium of the altar; Then there is an altar table in green from Thessaly as a wall covering of the northern facade and a slab, perhaps of a sarcophagus, always in the same marble, and inserted in the wall of the Treasury. Finally, the veined marbles are used for decorative purposes by exploiting the arrangement of the veins themselves: for example the columns in Proconnesium, white marble with greyish veins, are arranged in such a way as to respect correspondence and symmetry based on the horizontal arrangement of the veins. As for the wall coverings, the slabs are cut in such a way that the veins form geometric decorations. Clear examples can be seen in the internal cladding where the veins of the slabs form large “zig-zag” bands or lozenges arranged vertically or horizontally.

St. Mark’s church, begun in 1063, was built on the foundations and with the walls of an earlier church also dedicated to the saint. The model for this new church, much larger than the former one, was the Basilica of the Twelve Apostles in Constantinople.

(La basilica di San Marco, iniziata nel 1063, viene costruita su fondazioni e murature di una chiesa precedente, anch’essa dedicata al santo. Il modello per questa nuova chiesa, molto più grande della precedente, è la basilica dei dodici Apostoli di Costantinopoli.)

(L'église Saint-Marc, commencée en 1063, a été construite sur les fondations et avec les murs d'une ancienne église également dédiée au saint. Le modèle de cette nouvelle église, beaucoup plus grande que l'ancienne, était la Basilique des Douze Apôtres à Constantinople.)

E-MuseumNFC

Do you need more information?

ARCHITECTURE

The beginning

Chronology

Architectural plant

The construction

The floor

The stones and marbles

ICONOGRAPHIC REPERTOIRE

From Byzantium to Venice

(Da Bisanzio a Venezia)

(De Byzance à Venise)

The layout of the Basilica

(L'impianto della Basilica)

(L'aménagement de la basilique)

The articulation of space

(L'articolazione dello spazio)

(L'articulation de l'espace)

Chronology: 892 - 1000

(Cronologia: 892 - 1000)

(Chronologie : 892 - 1000)

Chronology: 1063 - 1394

(Cronologia: 1063 - 1394)

(Chronologie : 1063 - 1394)