Fig. 440.—Cross Section, St. Mark’s, Venice.
The entire church is internally encrusted with richly-coloured marbles and gold mosaic, with figures, just as at St. Sophia’s;[65] and the floor is of marble and porphyry tesselation, varying in scale from the most vast slabs to the finest mosaic work.
The interior was, no doubt, a joint imitation of St. Sophia’s and the Apostles’ Church, rivalling the former in its sumptuous decoration, and imitating the latter in its plan.
To those who have not visited the East, this interior gives a very faithful idea of the splendour of a Byzantine church, and I must say that I have myself seen nothing more impressive ([Fig. 441]).
I will only further (before proceeding to another branch of my subject) notice one other church—the little church of Santa Fosca ([Fig. 442]), on the island of Torcello, close to Venice. This church is not domed, or has only a wooden dome, but was clearly planned for a proper domical covering. Its plan is like that of St. Nicodemus, at Athens,[66] already alluded to, and is perhaps one of the most beautiful in existence, and one best adapted of all domical arrangements to modern use. Before I proceed farther I must call your attention to a fresh step in advance.
Fig. 441.—Longitudinal Section, St. Mark’s, Venice. (From Fergusson.)
The next step in the development of domes is the adoption of pointed arches for their support, often accompanied by an increase in the height of their own section beyond that of a semicircle.