Venice in the Details

Every day, thousands of tourists flock to the Piazza San Marco. They marvel at the Doge's Palace, with it's powerful, yet graceful, gothic design. Perhaps they take a tour of the inside. Outside, they pose for pictures and admire the diaper pattern on the walls, the quatrefoils, the balustrades, and the long, gothic windows. No doubt they also admire the columns, but few take the time to really view them in detail; they may not even realize that each of the capitals is unique. In the case of our group, we pass the Doge's Palace almost daily, yet we rarely take the time to notice it. It seemed especially important to point out an interesting detail in what seemed like such an obvious place.
Of all of the columns, the one I liked best was right at the corner. Again, something obvious yet often missed. From a distance, the column looks fairly typical. Above, there is a large statue of Adam and Eve. On the capital, there is an acanthus plant design, the typical decoration of Corinthian columns.
Upon a closer view, the column takes on more detail. Below Adam and Eve, there is a depiction of Jesus, seated on a throne, with a child at his side.
There, however, the biblical images end, and the other seven facets present us with something entirely different.
Here are Aries, the ram, and Scorpio, the scorpion.
Leo, the lion, and Virgo, the virgin. It is difficult to see in this picture, but she has rays of light emanating from her head, representing purity.
Taurus, the bull, and Libra, the scales (in the woman's hand)
Gemini, the twins. (right)
Cancer, the crab. (right side of boat)
Capricorn, the sea-goat, and Aquarius, the water bearer.
Pisces, the fish (to the man's left) and Sagittarius, the archer. Interestingly, Sagittarius here appears in the form of a human rather than a centaur.

The other figures represent soldier and sailors- displays of La Serenissima's power- or various virtues, such as Justice, who holds the scales. The latin inscription around the top of the capital describes the images.

I would like to focus on the signs of the zodiac. It seemed strange to find them mingled with religious figures, and so close to the sacred place of the Basilica di San Marco. However, as has become evident throughout this semester, Venice is a place that constantly mixes the sacred and profane. Further, although most people today, when presented with the signs of the zodiac, think of horoscopes and fortune telling, it is important to remember that the zodiac serves another, more important purpose.
More than just a list of characters on a newspaper page, the signs of the zodiac refer to the ring of constellations around the ecliptic, the apparent path of the sun across the sky over the course of a year. Each constellation is visible at a certain time of the year, for approximately a month.

Aries: March 21-April 19
Taurus: April 20 - May 20
Gemini: May 21 - June 20
Cancer: June 21- July 22
Leo: July 23 - August 22
Virgo: August 23 - September 22
Libra: September 23 - October 22
Scorpio: October 23 - November 21
Sagittarius: November 22 - December 21
Capricorn: December 22 - January 19
Aquarius: January 20 - February 18
Pisces: February 19 - March 20

Thus, depending upon which constellation is visible, it is possible to discern the time of year. This was especially important for sailors who, being far from home, might otherwise be unable to tell. The zodiac appears in one other place in the Piazza San Marco- on the clock tower- and it was made large enough so that sailors could easily view it from the port through their telescopes. Because of their position around the ecliptic, the constellations of the zodiac could also aid in navigation.
Construction on the Doge's Palace began in the fourteenth century and continued until 1420. This was just in the middle of the Late Middle Ages, at the time when society was advancing toward modernity. At the time, Venice had a fleet of 3300 ships, and its empire was well established, controlling such territories as Padova and Verona. It is easy to understand, then, why the signs of the zodiac deserved such a prominent space in the Piazza San Marco. In the same way that Venice's commerce and control of trade between the east and west supported the power of its empire, this column supports the Doge's Palace, the very symbol of Venetian power.
The metaphor this column presents calls to mind Ambrosini's Reconsidering Venice, in which they discuss the myth and antimyth of Venice. On the one hand, it was La Serenissima, an "ideal republic, strong maritime empire, and an independent state in which the Venetian nobles were devoted to the ideals of civic humanis, and the commercial values of sobriety, hard work, and self-sacrifice." [The bolding is my own.] Venice was admired for its wealth and power, and these were the sources of its beauty. On the other hand, the things considered by some to be virtues were considered by others to be evils. The antimyth of Venice is that of an evil, oppressive empire, that "sought to place the rest of Italy under its domination."
Either way, I find it incredibly interesting that something as simple as a column- part of a column- an architectural feature, can reflect so much about the society that built it. Venice is, and has always been, tied to the sea. When new trade routes were discovered and Venice's maritime economy began to decline, so too did the republic. We can only hope that the Doge's Palace and its columns will not someday be left to crumble. The columns were replaced during 19th century restorations, and, despite what Ruskin would say about that, I'm glad that the originals are now being preserved and that we have the copies to give us a glance into the Venetian past.