DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.55699#0132
102
THE CHURCH OF ST. MARK.
In that temple porch
(The brass is gone, the porphyry remains)
Did Barbarossa fling his mantle off,
And, kneeling, on his neck receive the foot
Of the proud pontiff.
Rogers.
The church of St. Mark, one of the most celebrated
temples in the Christian world, was originally built in
the ninth century, when Giovanni Participatio was Doge
of Venice. The breve, or inscription, in the hall of the
Great Council, recording the deeds of the doges, alludes
to this fact in the following words:—“ Sub me Ecclesia
Sancti Marci conditur, ibique corpus deponitur.”
The church thus erected, having been consumed by
fire in the year 976, was replaced by the present edifice,
which was completed in the time of Domenico Silvio,
who was elected Doge in 1071. It exhibits a singular
mixture of classical and oriental architecture, which
has been severely but justly criticised by Mr. Forsyth.
“ Though most of its materials came from Greece, their
combination is neither Greek, nor Gothic, nor Basilical,
nor Saracenic, but a fortuitous jumble of all. A front,
divided by a gallery, and a roof, hooded with mosquish
cupolas, give it a strange unchristian look. Nowhere
have I seen so many columns crowded into so small a
space. Near three hundred are stuck on the pillars of
the front, and three hundred more on the balustrade
THE CHURCH OF ST. MARK.
In that temple porch
(The brass is gone, the porphyry remains)
Did Barbarossa fling his mantle off,
And, kneeling, on his neck receive the foot
Of the proud pontiff.
Rogers.
The church of St. Mark, one of the most celebrated
temples in the Christian world, was originally built in
the ninth century, when Giovanni Participatio was Doge
of Venice. The breve, or inscription, in the hall of the
Great Council, recording the deeds of the doges, alludes
to this fact in the following words:—“ Sub me Ecclesia
Sancti Marci conditur, ibique corpus deponitur.”
The church thus erected, having been consumed by
fire in the year 976, was replaced by the present edifice,
which was completed in the time of Domenico Silvio,
who was elected Doge in 1071. It exhibits a singular
mixture of classical and oriental architecture, which
has been severely but justly criticised by Mr. Forsyth.
“ Though most of its materials came from Greece, their
combination is neither Greek, nor Gothic, nor Basilical,
nor Saracenic, but a fortuitous jumble of all. A front,
divided by a gallery, and a roof, hooded with mosquish
cupolas, give it a strange unchristian look. Nowhere
have I seen so many columns crowded into so small a
space. Near three hundred are stuck on the pillars of
the front, and three hundred more on the balustrade