January 31, 829, a small basilica was erected as a martyrium in Venice to house the body of St. Mark. It became one of the most famous Christian sanctuaries of the early Middle Ages, drawing pilgrims from all over Europe. Damaged by a fire in August 976, that also destroyed several areas of the city, was quickly repaired by Doge Pietro Orseolo. Less than a century later, in 1063, Doge Domenico Contarini decided to demolish St. Marks’ sanctuary and replace it with a larger and richer basilica, the present building with its five-dome design.<!--more-->

Although the outside of the building was jaw dropping the inside is almost imaginable. According to Jolly in <em>Made in God’s Image, </em>modern visitors who enter San<em> </em>Marco discover walls and domes of mosaics. They are visually exhilarating to experience, particularly because of their brilliant colors and pervasive gold; in terms of their meaning, however, they usually remain less satisfying. Whether because of the difficulty of viewing the scenes located on the high in the vaults or our ignorance of medieval saints’ lives, often our only way of answering the question, “What do these mosaics mean?” is to read a guidebook. (Jolly)

The most impressive cupola in the Atrium, in my opinion, is the Dome of Creation. Here the Story of Creation is narrated in twenty-five scenes, all with inscriptions, and sequence of days is identified by the number of angels present, from one on the first day to seven on the last.

The Creation Story

(1)      The Spirit Moving on the Face of the Waters

(2)      Creation of Light (1<sup>st</sup> Day)

(3)      Creation of a Firmament (2<sup>nd</sup> Day)

(4)      Formation of the Dry Land and of Seas, and Creation of Vegetation (3<sup>rd</sup> Day)

(5)      Creation of the Sun and Moon (4<sup>th</sup> Day)

(6)      Creation of Fish and Fowl (5<sup>th</sup> Day)

(7)      Creation of Animals and Man (6<sup>th</sup> Day)

(8)      Institution of the Sabbath (7<sup>th</sup> Day)

(9)      Making Man a Living Soul

(10)    Placing Man in the Garden of Eden

(11)    Adam naming the Animals

(12)    Christ fashioning Eve

(13)    Christ presenting Eve to Adam

(14)    The Temptation

(15)    The Fall

(16)    First Consequence of the Fall

(17)    Second Consequence of the Fall

(18)    Third Consequence of the Fall

(19)    Christ judging Adam, Eve, and the Serpent

(20)    Christ clothing our First Parents

(21)    The Expulsion from the Garden (This last mosaic of the series is a double one)

The scenes of the Creation in the cupola are arranged in a manner quite different from that in the other cupolas, namely, in three concentric rings, separated only by inscriptions. This compact filling of a cupola with several rings that consist of pictorial units is not very frequent. Apart from some juggling with the format of the single pictures and, to a certain extent, with the color, the makers of the cupola mosaics seem to have adhered rather closely to the compositions of the miniatures of the Cotton Genesis. (Demus)

The mosaics were executed by early local workshop in the first half of the 13<sup>th</sup> century.  Artist who worked in Venice in general and in San Marco in particular, there is little documentary evidence; hardly any of it is contemporary. The mosaicists were almost certainly members of the painters’ guild. The earliest date we have for existence of this guild is the year 1271.

The church often prohibited images of man during this time. There is no likeness of God the Father in any of the mosaics. The Byzantine workers did not dare to attempt to make a figure of Him who is invisible, “whom no man hath seen or can see,” but always in His stead put Jesus Christ, “He whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting.” And Christ is brought before us in various aspects : as “the visible image of the invisible God” ; as he through whom God manifests himself and works, every act of creation being represented as wrought by Christ, “by Him all things were made” ; and as the great Archetype of man, wearing, before time began, that image after the pattern of which man was made. (Robertson)

The Creation Dome must be seen in person to be properly presented. It is absolutely magnificent and in great detail. Think about how long it takes you to complete a 2000 piece jigsaw puzzle, now imagine doing this on the ceiling with a million-piece jigsaw puzzle…The images of the Creation Dome may have been derived from Cotton Genesis, which is one of the oldest illustrated biblical codices before it was destroyed in 1731. I propose this work of art <strong>saved</strong> for future generations.

&nbsp;

Works Cited

Demus, Otto. <em>The Mosaics of San Marco in Venice</em>. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1984. Print.

Jolly, Penny Howell. <em>Made in God's Image?: Eve and Adam in the Genesis Mosaics at San Marco, Venice</em>. Berkeley: University of California, 1997. Print.

Robertson, Alexander. <em>The Bible of St. Mark; St. Mark's Church, the Altar &amp; Throne of Venice,</em>. London: G. Allen, 1898. Print.

Toesca, Pietro, and Ferdinando Forlati. <em>Mosaics of St. Mark's.</em> Greenwich, CT: New York Graphic Society, 1958. Print.

Vio, Ettore. <em>The Basilica of St. Mark in Venice</em>. Antella (Florence): Scala, 1999. Print.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;