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The mosaic heritage | The New Testament
Entering the Basilica
After the preparation and the expectations created by the atrium mosaics,
entering the church is a symbolic arrival in the 'promised
land' of Abraham and the ancient patriarchs.
Around the portal in niches of various sizes are the mosaic figures
of the Virgin and Child between eight apostles (upper
register) and the 4 evangelists (lower register). These are part
of the oldest mosaics, dating perhaps to the late 11th century
when the great portal was the external entrance to the church, before
the atrium was built. They are held to be the work of the "Greek"
mosaicists recorded in ancient Venetian chronicles, a term that referred
generically to those originating from the Byzantine area.
On crossing the portal and entering the sacred space of the basilica,
the most striking aspect is certainly the golden mosaics covering the
upper part of the architecture: this is due to the unity they give to
the interior and to their oriental reference to the symbolic meaning
of gold, the colour of the Divine.
The lunette above the main door immediately suggests a further
and more precise interpretative key to this space.
The three figures recall the classical plan of a Deesis, the
prayer of intercession which, in eastern iconography, depicts Christ
Pantocrator between the Virgin Mother and John the Baptist,
humanity's two greatest intercessors. Here the Deesis is freely interpreted:
the Baptist is replaced by St. Mark, patron of the church and
city. The words from chapter 10 of the Gospel of St. John in the book
held open by Jesus: "Ego sum ostium per me si quis introierit salvabitur
et pasqua inveniet - I am the gate - whomsoever enters through me
shall attain the pastures of salvation ", leads us to the recovery of
forgotten meanings and values: the actual "gate" that leads to
salvation is Christ himself, his Word communicated to us by means of
his life .
The overall mosaics of the cupolas, the vaults and the walls should
be read precisely as an illuminated manuscript of the gospel.
The central nucleus, which tells the story of Christian salvation,
ranges from Messianic prophecies to the second coming - Christ the Judge
at the end of the world - and its focal points are in the three domes
of the nave.
The orientation of the basilica, with the presbytery facing East
and the main door to the West in accordance with tradition, indicates
the axis, the course of the sun along which the main nucleus
of ancient mosaics should be followed. This itinerary allows us to read
the story of salvation brought to man by Jesus, a sun that never
sets.
Cupola of
the Prophets |
The
Cupola of the Prophets
The story of salvation begins in the cupola of the
Prophets with announcement of the Messiah by the prophets who,
around the Virgin, display their prophecies.
On the apse bowl-vault the great Christ Pantocrator,
lord of the universe, is a 1506 reworking of the original
Byzantine type image by a renaissance master mosaicist.
The Pantocrator, from the apse bowl-vault, sends his Son into the
world. He appears at the centre of the cupola amid myriads of stars
with the scroll of the laws in his hands. In the concave interior,
the Virgin and prophets. At the bottom the Virgin,
in sumptuous oriental garments and her hands outstretched while
awaiting the Word to descend upon her from the centre of the cupola
is aligned with the thirteen prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Daniel, Obadiah, Habakkuk Hosea, Jonah,
Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi,
Solomon and David. Each one bears a scroll alluding
to the Incarnation and Resurrection of Christ and to the Last Judgement.
In a central position and in an attitude of prayer Isaiah, pointing
at the beardless youth in the middle of the cupola, pronounces the
words: "Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son
who shall be called Emanuel, God with us" and David, head of the
royal dynasty of Israel, dressed in the sumptuous garments of the
Byzantine emperor, proclaims the royal nature of the child to be
born to her: "the fruit of your loins shall I place on my throne
".
At the base of the cupola on the four spandrels beneath are the
symbols of the four Evangelists: the lion (St. Mark),
the ox (St. Luke), the angel (St. Matthew) and the
eagle (St. John).
The meaning of their presence is made clear by the accompanying
inscription ("what was said of Christ through obscure allusions
(by the prophets) was to be made clear by the Evangelists, and through
them God made himself known to humanity ").
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