Valentina Cantone On the Mosaic of the Main Porch of San Marco in Venice: Towards a Multi-Methodological Approach to Mosaics Study.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://dx.doi.org/10.18688/aa166-2-15
Title On the Mosaic of the Main Porch of San Marco in Venice: Towards a Multi-Methodological Approach to Mosaics Study.
Author email valentina.cantone@unipd.it
About author Valentina Cantone — Ph. D., assistant professor. University of Padua, Piazza Capitaniato 7, 35139 Padova, Italy.
In the section Eastern Christian Art DOI10.18688/aa166-2-15
Year 2016 Volume 6 Pages 143–149
Type of article RAR Index UDK 72.04:738.5 Index BBK 85.14
Abstract

After large contributions made by Otto Demus and Renato Polacco, the inner porch of San Marco was rigorously studied, but only single elements of its complex structure were taken into consideration. Scholars have agreed neither on the chronological sequence of the rows which compose the portal, nor on the original portal decoration. The formal analysis of the mosaic decoration has been implemented to clarify the chronological sequence of the Byzantine ateliers from the second half of the 11th century to the early 12th century. Other researches made a new statement regarding the doors that arrived in Venice between the last quarter of the 11th century and the beginning of the 12th century, one of them actually in use in the main portal.

Many questions still remain. Was the portal structure originally made of three tiers or four (counting also the hypothetical vault demolished in the 16th century in order to open the light well called “pozzo”)? Are the di erences in quality of painting of the same tier due to restorations or to a di erent approach used in the images of different saints? Was there more than one artist involved in the process? There are also a lot of questions about the original door of the porch. The actual door of the main porch opening was offered by Leo da Molino († 1138), Procuratore di rispetto of the church of San Marco in the year 1112. It should be dated 10 to 30 years later than the portal, if we accept that the first phase of the porch was completed in the last quarter of the 11th century.

The author reconsiders the recent studies of the main porch of San Marco drawing on an integrated approach. An attempt has been made to clarify the chronological phases of the architectural structure by using techniques like Geophysical prospections, analyzing glass materials, mapping different restorations and confronting the data of the multispectral analysis with the documents conserved in the archives of the Procuratoria di San Marco. e goal of the research is to study the mosaic within its structural, material, devotional, and ideological context trying to give the answers to all newly opened questions.
Keywords
Reference Valentina Cantone. On the Mosaic of the Main Porch of San Marco in Venice: Towards a Multi-Methodological Approach to Mosaics Study.. Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art: Collection of articles. Vol. 6. Eds: Anna V. Zakharova, Svetlana V. Maltseva, Ekaterina Yu. Stanyukovich-Denisova. St. Petersburg, NP-Print Publ., 2016, pp. 143–149. ISSN 2312-2129. http://dx.doi.org/10.18688/aa166-2-15
Publication Article language english
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