|
|
|
St.
Mark's Cathedral, Venice, Italy, which predates the European
Renaissance. This cathedral is in the
Byzantine style. It is adorned with more than 500 marble columns,
and is decorated inside and out with almost 46,000 square feet of
mosaics in brilliant colors. Over the principal entrance are four
horses in gilded bronze. They are supposed once to have adorned
the triumphal arch of Nero, and afterwards that of Trajan.
Constantine sent them to Constantinople, whence the Venetians brought
them to Venice in 1204, after the fourth crusade. In 1797 they
were taken to Paris by Napoleon, where they graced for a time the
triumphal arch of the Carrousel. In 1815 they were restored to
Venice. During World War I they were carried to Rome to save them
from possible destruction by enemy airplanes, but after the war they
were replaced on St. Mark's.
Renaissance Europe Image Gallery
Italy Geography Page |
