ABSTRACT
Above the main altar of the Venetian church of San Marco, a mosaic of the Apostle Peter hands St. Mark the Evangelist a book. The book appears again in Mark’s hands, held erect (Figure 2.1). Mark’s neighbor and disciple, St. Hermagoras, points to the book, directing the viewer’s gaze back to the central object. The program creates a near flip-book animation effect focused on movement of the Gospel from hand to hand. Below the mosaic, St. Mark’s relics rest, surrounded by images of his body moving from one set of hands to another, sailing across the sea, and working miracles in transit. Not far away, a mosaic of Pope Pelagius II (581–89) hands a forged papal privilege to Patriarch Helias of Grado (572–86). Outside, spolia scatter across the façade of the great church. Each trophy tells a specific story of cultural appropriation from east to west. Next to the church, a relief of Justice on the ducal palace holds a very specific sword. Pope Alexander III (1159–81) gave Doge Sebastiano Ziani (1172–78) that sword and six other gifts according to the legend of the Peace of Venice (1177), a story in which gift-giving somehow dwarfs great battles in terms of cultural importance. Inside the palace, the myth of the Peace of Venice appears in a series of monumental paintings in the Great Council chamber. Facing these paintings, a complementary cycle portrays the Venetian version of the Fourth Crusade. In one image, Prince Alexius Angelos (1182–1204) places a piece of paper in the hand of Doge Enrico Dandolo (1192–1205). The interpretation of the causality behind the great diversion of the Fourth Crusade shifts entirely on whether the paper came from Rome or Germany. 2 This itinerary of objects at the core of Venetian stories could extend indefinitely, across the water to the monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore, out to the church of St. Nicholas on the Lido, throughout the Venetian stato da mar and terra firma, and everywhere people used Venetian currency to practice commerce.
