The Rough Guide to Venice and the Veneto

san marco
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The Basilica di San Marco
St Peter and St Mark (early twelfth-century, altered in the nineteenth century); this
sequence, mingled with Scenes from the Life of St Clement, is continued on the end
walls, but is obscured by the organs.
North transept: dome – Acts of St John the Evangelist (early to mid-twelfth-century);
arch to west of dome (continued on upper part of adjacent wall) – Life of
the Virgin, Life of the Infant Christ (late twelfth- to early thirteenth-century); arch
at north end of transept (above Cappella di Sant’Isidoro) – Miracles of Christ (late
twelfth- to early thirteenth-century). On wall of north aisle – five mosaic tablets
of Christ with the Prophets Hosea, Joel, Micah and Jeremiah (c.1210–30). This series is
continued on the wall of the south aisle with figures of The Virgin, Isaiah, David,
Solomon and Ezekiel; above these five is the large and complex Agony in the Garden
(early thirteenth-century); Mark’s Gospel tells us that Christ fell on the ground in
the Garden of Gethsemane, Matthew describes him falling on his face, and Luke
writes that he simply knelt down – the mosaic thus shows Christ in three different
positions. On the wall above and on the arch overhead are Scenes from the Lives of the
Apostles (late twelfth- to early thirteenth-century).
South transept: dome (the Dome of St Leonard) – SS. Nicholas, Clement, Blaise
and Leonard (early thirteenth-century), with St Dorothea (thirteenth-century), St
Erasma (fifteenth-century), St Euphamia (fifteenth-century) and St Thecla (1512)
in the spandrels. The formality of the mosaics in the arch between dome and
nave – Scenes from the Life of Christ (early twelfth-century) – makes a striking contrast
with the slightly later scenes on the church’s central arch; the depiction of
Christ’s temptation is especially beautiful, showing the protagonists suspended in
a field of pure gold. Arch above Altar of the Sacrament – Parables and Miracles
of Christ (late twelfth- or early thirteenth-century); arch in front of Gothic
window – SS. Anthony Abbot, Bernardino of Siena, Vincent Ferrer and Paul the Hermit
(1458); west wall of transept – the Rediscovery of the Body of St Mark (second half
of thirteenth century).
This last picture refers to a miraculous incident known as the Inventio (or
“Rediscovery”). In 1094 the body of Saint Mark, having been so well hidden
during the rebuilding of the Basilica in 1063 that nobody could find it again,
interrupted the service of consecration by breaking through the pillar in which
it had been buried. The actual pillar is to your right as you enter the sanctuary,
and the very place at which the Evangelist’s arm appeared is marked by a marble
and mosaic panel.
The sanctuary and the Pala d’Oro
Steps lead from the south transept up to the sanctuary (May–Sept Mon–Sat
9.45am–5pm, Sun 2–4pm; Oct–April Mon–Sat 9.45am–4pm, Sun 2–4pm;
e1.50), via the Cappella di San Clemente, where most of the sculpture is by the
Dalle Masegne family.
On the fronts of the singing galleries next to the rood screen are eight bronze
panels of Scenes from the Life of St Mark by Sansovino (1537), who also executed
the figures of The Evangelists on the balustrade of the high altar. The other four
figures, The Doctors of the Church, are seventeenth-century pieces.
Officially the remains of Saint Mark lie in the sarcophagus underneath the altar,
but it’s quite likely that the body was actually destroyed in the fire of 976. The
altar baldachin is supported by four creamy alabaster columns carved with
mostly indecipherable scenes from the lives of Christ and His Mother; the date of
the columns is a matter of intense argument – estimates fluctuate between the fifth
and the thirteenth centuries.
Behind the altar, and usually enveloped by a scrum, is the most precious of San
Marco’s treasures, the astonishing Pala d’Oro – the “golden altar screen”. Com-