The Horses of St. Mark's

by Charles Freeman

  Prince Regent, 225

  Procopius, 65

  Proust, Marcel, 249

  Prussia, 191, 207, 208, 238, 244

  pyramids, 273

  Pyromachus (sculptor), 143

  Pythian Games, 49

  quadrigae, 5, 13, 14, 31, 59, 98, 140, 143, 230, 238, 257–8; illustrations, 35, 36, 37, 38, 42, 99; on triumphal arches, 47–8, 236, 260, 269, 271; in Christian art, 98–101, 275; used in triumphs, 98, 274; St Mark’s horses as, 118, 158, 174–5; on frontispiece to Description d’Egypte, 204; recreated in Paris, 221; used in apotheosis, 224; of Septimius Severus, 269–70

  Raphael, 3, 145, 170, 181, 232

  Rascia, king of, 108

  Ravenna, 70, 108

  relics, 72, 87, 112

  Renaissance, 8, 53, 139, 174, 247–8, 274; attitude to the past, 132; intellectual life, 144; rediscovery of classical writers, 147; Florentine, 149; typical scholar’s study, 160, 161; periods of art, 181

  repristino, 246

  revolutions of 1848, 14; in Venice, 242–3

  Rhodes, 140, 258, 259

  Riace warriors, 59, 262

  Richardson, Jonathan, 174–5

  Richter, Gisela, 256

  Rilke, Rainer Maria, 249; ‘San Marco’, 250–1

  Robertson, Andrew, 210

  Robespierre, Maximilien, 4

  Rogers, Samuel, 247

  Romagna, 129

  Roman empire, 70, 105, 131, 149; Venetian ‘lords of quarter and half a quarter’ of the Roman [ie. Byzantine] empire, 106–7, 117; late, 139; collapse, 174, 236

  Romans, 40–2, 44, 59, 248, 259; ‘decadent’, 238

  Rome, 70, 116, 181, 189, 274; art treasures seized, 2–3, 200, 213–14, 221; ancient, 4–5, 7, 12, 14, 98, 106, 132, 136, 180, 234–5; Constantine’s entry, 17, 24; Etruscan kings, 41, 44, 46; authority over Byzantine church, 79, 81, 82; sacked by Charles V, 130, 236; association with St Mark’s horses, 140–1, 173, 254, 256–7; art collections, 170; republican, 177, 201; imperial, 201, 203; Canova in, 212–13, 216, 225, 226; French leave, 217; Canova negotiates return of art treasures, 218–19; architecture, 233–4

  LANDMARKS: Accademia of San Luca, 216; Ara Pacis, 260, 262; arch of Augustus, 47, 141; Arch of Constantine, 17–18, 108, 203, 260; arch of Nero, 47–8, 174, 237; arch of Septimius Severus, 269, 270; Arcus Tiberi, 256; Augustus’ mausoleum, 141; Baths of Diocletian, 132; Belvedere, 169–70; Capitoline Hill, 25–6, 46, 48, 54, 136, 140, 154, 158, 216, 262, 269; Capitoline Museums, 5, 169, 171, 200; Castel Sant’Angelo, 254; Church of the Holy Apostles, 213; Circus Maximus, 22–6, 41, 42; Colosseum, 17, 22–3, 106, 203; Forum, 46, 47, 48, 170, 216, 256; Palatine Hill, 22; Palazzo Altemps, 170; Palazzo Venezia, 252, 254; Pantheon, 132; Piazza del Popolo, 26n; Piazza del Quirinale, 139; Pincio Hill, 170; pyramid of Cestius, 133; St John Lateran, 154; St Peter’s, 20; Sistine Chapel, 170; Spada Palace, 267; Temple of Janus, 138–9; Trajan’s Column, 203; Trajan’s forum, 158; Vatican, 169, 175, 183, 229; Via Sacra, 256

  Romulus and Remus, 133; statue, 84

  Rootes, William, 204

  Rosetta Stone, 209

  Rossi, Giovanni, 275n

  Rousseau, Jean Jacques, 5, 176, 177, 186

  Rubens, Peter Paul, 170; Descent from the Cross, 199

  Ruskin, John, 72, 74, 102, 135, 244, 245, 246, 247–9

  Russia, 207

  St Agatha, 87

  St Anastasius, 87

  St Augustine, 160, 161

  St Demetrius, 93

  St George, 93

  St Helena, 87

  St Jerome, 24, 97–8, 100, 161

  St Lucia, 87

  St Mark, 70, 100–1, 110, 121, 131, 136, 188, 213; body brought to Venice, 71, 96, 121, 136; relics, 72; lion, 87, 276; statue, 101; feast day, 112, 251; body rediscovered, 121

  St Mark’s basilica, Venice, 78, 88–9, 100, 188, 250, 277; rebuilding, 73–4, 92–3, 101–2, 103, 106, 135; procurators, 93, 163, 168; reliefs of Hercules, 93, 114–16; arrival of the horses, 94–7, 274; burial place of doges, 108–9; as hippodrome, 119; civic ritual in, 122; Canova’s funeral, 211, 240; new republic celebrated, 242; Manin’s burial, 244; Ruskin’s description, 248; collapse of Campanile, 251; horses moved inside, 255, 256

  baptistery, 109; chapel of St John the Evangelist, 109; chapel of San Isodoro, 109; Loggia, 5, 8, 89, 94–7, 109–10, 112, 116, 118, 132, 134, 138, 163, 211, 224, 235, 250, 252–4, 275, 276; mosaic of St Peter, 148; Palo d’Oro, 106, 109; Porta dei Fiori, 100; Porta San Alipio mosaic, 93, 96, 97, 100, 114, 116; Treasury, 87, 88, 93–4; see also horses of St Mark’s

  St Martin, 149–51, 153

  St Paul the Martyr, 87

  St Peter Damian, 100

  St Symeon, 87

  St Theodore, 71, 72; statue, 72, 87, 101

  Salamis, 85

  Samos, 51, 59

  Samson, 116

  Sand, George, 125

  Sangallo, Giuliano da, 142

  Sanskrit, 237

  Sansovino, Francesco, 140–1, 152

  Sansovino, Jacopo, 54, 162, 163, 168, 171, 173, 235, 248, 251

  Sanudo, Marin, 136

  Sardinia, 191

  Savelli, Paolo, 156

  Savoy, 192; house of, 239

  Scandinavia, 275

  Schlegel, August Wilhelm von, 237–8

  Schlegel, Friedrich von, 237

  Schwarzenberg, Prince of, 219

  Scipio Africanus, 136

  Scott, Walter, 210

  Scrovegni, Enrico, 102–3

  sculpture, ancient (classical), 139–41, 146, 174, 259; see also Parthenon sculptures

  Sea of Marmara, 85, 138

  Second Sophistic period, 267

  Second World War, 254

  Seine, River, 220

  Selene, 35, 230, 232

  Septimius Severus, emperor, 21, 30, 269–71

  Serbs, 110

  sestertius, 48

  Sgrabi, Vittorio, 276

  Shaftesbury, third Earl of, 181

  Shakespeare, William, 237

  Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 245

  Sicily, king of, 108, 117

  Sidon, 258

  Siena cathedral, 102

  silver, 265

  Sirmium, 24

  Sitte, Camillo, 245

  Sixtus IV, Pope, 169

  Sobry, M., 237

  Society of Dilettanti, 228

  Sol, 17–18, 26, 27

  Sol Invictus, 17, 20

  Soldani, Massimiliani, 171

  Song of Songs, 100

  Sophocles, 39

  Soranzo, Doge Giovanni, 109, 136

  Spain, 167, 191, 205, 206, 207

  Sparta, 264

  Spinario, 171, 200

  Standing Venus, 174–5

  Stendhal, 213

  Stephen (monk), 66–7

  Stravinsky, Igor, 246

  Strong, Eugenie, 256

  Stuart, James, and Nicholas Revett, Antiquities of Athens, 143

  Suetonius, 48, 134

  Sulla, 200

  sun, 16–20, 26–8, 40; see also Sol, Sol Invictus

  Symonds, John Addington, 245

  Syracuse, 50

  Syria, 17

  Tacitus, 140, 236

  Taj Mahal, 273

  Talier, Angelo, 195

  Tarentum, 26

  Tarquinia, 41

  Telemachus, 33

  terraferma, 128, 129, 134, 136, 191–3, 198, 211

  Theodora, empress, 65

  Theodosius I, emperor, 27, 63, 108, 111

  Theodosius II, emperor, 30, 80, 89, 259

  Theophilus, 265

  Thrace, 85, 86

  Thucydides, 30

  Thurn und Taxis, Princess Marie von, 249

  Tiber, River, 236

  Tiberius, emperor, 46, 268

  Tiepolo, Doge Giacomo, 105, 108

  Tiepolo, Giambattista, 176

  Tigris, River, 269

  tin, 50, 56, 263, 265

  Tintoretto, 3, 196, 245

  Tiridates, King of Armenia, 140

  Titian, 3, 146, 152, 1
67–8, 169, 170, 176, 196, 211, 213, 245, 275; Assumption, 167; The Death of St Peter Martyr, 196

  Trafalgar, battle of, 218

  Trajan, emperor, 17, 22, 203; forum in Rome, 158

  Treaty of Amiens, 215

  Treaty of Campio Formio, 196

  Treaty of Tolentino, 199, 207, 218

  Treviso, 128, 211

  Trier, 21, 24

  Trieste, 129, 175, 184, 241

  Trinidad, 4

  triumphal arches, 47–8, 236–7, 256, 267, 269, 271

  triumphs, 44–7, 64, 98, 267, 274

  Troy, fall of, 70, 84

  Turin, 200

  Turks, 98, 118, 128, 176, 276; take Constantinople, 62, 128, 134–5; take Athens, 141; defeated at Lepanto, 166

  Turner, William, 247

  Tyche, 28, 29, 112, 268, 270

  Tyre, fall of, 75

  Uccello, Paolo, 148

  Udine, 128

  Ulm, battle of, 203

  usury, 74, 103

  Valéry, Monsieur, 245

  Vasari, Giorgio, Lives of the Artists, 156

  Vasco da Gama, 129

  Veneti, 116

  Venetian Academy, 214, 224, 235, 239

  Venetian empire, 105, 136, 138

  Veneto, 70, 89, 243; artists, 144, 148

  venezianita, 246

  Veneziano, Paolo, 149, 151

  Venice, 3, 6, 31, 54; trade, 68, 71, 74–7, 82, 85, 86, 92, 94, 118–19, 123, 126, 128–9, 175, 245; first inhabitants, 69–70, 72, 194; architecture, 71–2, 135–6, 168–9, 187, 247–9, 275; artificial heritage, 73, 176; shipyards, 77; elections, 85; treasures looted from Constantinople, 87–91, 93–5, 106; thirteenth-century prosperity, 92, 122–3; under doges, 105–20; processions, 108, 112, 114, 121–2; scuole, 112, 122; republic, 121–31, 186; ‘marriage’ with the sea, 117; political crisis, 117–19; Great Council, 119–20, 125–6, 135, 193–4; the Serrata, 119, 125, 194; nobility, 119–20, 125–6, 163, 191, 193–4, 195; Council of Ten, 119, 176, 196; cittadini, 122; new building, 122–3, 235; Piovego, 122; fires, 123, 162; colleganza, 123; aristocracy, 123, 125; Senate, 126, 127, 145, 156, 163, 158, 192–3; Collegio, 126, 192; Signoria, 126, 156; at war, 127–9, 166, 175–6; secret of survival, 130–1; Petrarch visits, 133–4; Roman heritage, 134–6, 156, 163; influx of Greeks, 134–5; combined Roman and Greek heritage, 136–7, 233; Cyriacus visits, 138; Bembo’s history, 145; art, 148–9, 168, 176; Dürer visits, 152; the Schiavoni, 161; Coryat visits, 166; alleged public torture, 166; decadimento, 166; Bucintoro, 167, 196; courtesans, 167, 177; outbreak of plague, 168; economic decline, 169, 175, 190, 225, 241, 242; loss of purpose, 176; subject to derision, 177; Goethe visits, 186–9, 233; singers, 186–7; theatre, 187; fall of republic, 189, 190, 194, 213; barnabotti, 191; reduced military strength, 191; threatened by Napoleon, 192–4; ‘tyranny’, 192, 193; art treasures seized, 193, 196, 206, 214, 221; Committee of Public Instruction established, 194; history revised, 194; Tree of Liberty erected, 194–5; Golden Book, 195; Jewish ghetto opened up, 196; handed over to Austria, 196, 239, 241–3; lion, 197, 221; Canova negotiates return of art treasures, 218–19, 239; integrated into kingdom of Italy, 235; growing Italian nationalism, 239–40, 241; Canova’s funeral, 239–40; carbonari, 239; economic recovery, 241; tourists and expatriates, 241, 244–6, 276; middle classes, 242–3; new republic, 242, 244, 254; Wagner visits, 243; incorporated into Italy, 243–4; riots, 244; sexual licence, 245; decay, 245–6; restoration, 246; Ruskin visits, 247–8; Proust visits, 249; collapse of Campanile, 251, 277; air raids, 252; floods, 276; see also doges; horses of St Mark’s

  LANDMARKS: Accademia, 112, 151, 240; Arsenale, 135, 224, 226; Bacino, 72, 162, 169; Campanile, 73, 94, 128, 162–3, 224, 244n, 251, 277; Campo dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo, 152, 154, 157; Church of St Barnabas, 191; Church of San Cipriano, 194; Church of San Gemignano, 73, 158, 235; Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, 124–5, 169, 224; Church of San Nicolo, 167; Church of Santa Maria dei Frari, 156, 167, 196, 240; Church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, 108, 156, 196; Church of the Redentore, 169; Colonna del Bando, 94, 251; Dandolo Palace, 88; Doge’s Palace, 72, 92, 94, 120, 126, 135, 136, 162, 193, 224, 252, 254; Fenice, 195; Florian’s coffee-house, 177, 242, 254; Fondacio dei Tedeschi, 123; Fondacio dei Turchi, 245, 246; Giudecca, 169; Grand Canal, 74, 167, 244; Lido, 78, 167, 187, 245, 246; Loggetta, 163, 248, 251; Merceria, 74; Molo, 72, 94; monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore, 196; Murano, 123, 167; Palazzo Farsetti, 212; Palazzo Foscari, 167; Piazza San Marco, 73, 78, 92–3, 97, 101, 106, 108, 110–11, 114, 116–18, 120, 121, 125, 127, 147, 154, 156, 158, 162–3, 166, 177, 178–9, 194–5, 197, 211, 224, 235, 239, 242–5, 251, 275; Piazetta, 72, 73, 87, 94, 101, 109, 125, 135, 162–3, 169, 188, 197, 224, 226, 249, 251; Porto della Carta, 120; Procuratie Nuove, 235; Procuratie Vecchie, 162; Quadri coffee-house, 177; Rialto, 69, 74–5, 123; Rialto Bridge, 124–5; Sansovino’s Library, 162, 163, 173, 235, 251; Scala dei Giganti, 120, 136; Torcello, 72; Torre dell’Orologio, 147–8, 161–2; Zecca, 163; see also St Mark’s basilica

  Venus de’ Medici, 170, 172, 174, 200

  Venus Victrix, 217

  Verona, 73, 125, 128, 186; Comte de Lille proclaimed king of France, 191; French occupy, 192

  Veronese, 196, 221; Marriage at Cana, 206

  Verrochio, Andrea del, 152, 155–7

  Versailles, 172, 200

  Vespasian, emperor, 106

  vestigia, 133

  Vesuvius, Mount, 256

  Vicenza, 128, 168

  Vickers, Michael, 89n

  Vico, Enea, 158

  Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 172

  Victory, 131, 204, 220, 271

  Vienna, 170, 219

  Virgil, 133, 145, 259

  Virgin Mary, 70, 80, 93, 106, 130, 132; see also Mother of God

  Vitruvius, 168

  Vivaldi, Antonio, 176

  Vix krater, 38

  Voltaire, 5

  Vulgate, 97

  Wagner, Richard, 243, 246

  Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, 161

  Waterloo, battle of, 207, 208

  Wellington, Duke of, 208, 209, 216, 221

  Winckelmann, Johann, 6, 180–5, 200, 228, 230, 234, 238, 247, 273

  Yeats, W. B., 62

  York, 64

  Zanella, Giacomo, 275

  Zanetti, Anton Maria di Gerolamo and Anton Maria Alessandro, 173–4, 223

  Zara, 78, 79, 80, 119; Cathedral of St Anastasia, 151, 153

  Zeno, Doge Reniero, 107, 108, 109, 116–17, 118

  Zeno, Marino, 105

  Zeus Helios, 29, 90, 91, 268

  Zeuxis, 147, 228

  Ziani, Pietro, 105–6, 108

  * John Martin and Dennis Romano, Venice Reconsidered.

  * The word quadriga could be used of either the chariot with its four horses or the team of horses alone.

  * Winckelmann’s theory is explored on pp. 180–85.

  * In the Colosseum the emperor had some relationship with the crowd; but the hippodrome was much larger and more directly associated with the imperial palace, and so became the main political arena in Rome.

  * This obelisk was found many centuries later buried on the site and is now re-erected in Rome in the Piazza del Popolo.

  * In some hippodromes the eggs were replaced by model dolphins, believed to be the fastest living animals.

  * The word ‘kudos’ comes directly from the original Greek for ‘honour and glory’.

  * The name ‘Choniates’ comes from his home town Chonai in Phrygia.

  * I am grateful to Michael Vickers for this suggestion.

  * Phidias is normally given credit for the inspiration of the Parthenon marbles, even if the actual sculpting of them was not his. He is known to have sculpted the huge cult statue of Athena that stood inside the Parthenon.

  * Laocoön was a Trojan priest who warned the Trojans against admitting the Wooden Horse into their city. He and his two sons were attacked and strangled by snakes, sent by Athena, supporter of the Greeks. Their frenzied struggle with the snakes is the subject of the sculp
ture.

  * Corsica became French in 1768, just a year before Napoleon’s birth.

  * It has not survived, having been destroyed in a fire in 1868.

  * As the Arc du Carrousel where the horses were eventually to stand had not even been imagined in 1798, this, together with Napoleon’s presence, was a piece of poetic licence.

  * This was how the Salon, the exhibition of approved French art which was so impressively boycotted by the Impressionists, originated.

  * The Rosetta Stone, now in the British Museum, was inscribed with a text in hieroglyphics, Greek and demotic Egyptian and provided the key to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics by Jean-François Champollion.

  * Prince Borghese was rumoured to be impotent, and Pauline gained her reputation as Venus Victrix by her adventures in other beds than his.

  * In fact, quite the opposite. There was an assumption that Greek sculpture had originally been left in its white marble and unpainted. In the 1930s a misguided attempt to recreate originality led to some of the marbles being scraped down to improve their whiteness!

  * Memories of Venetian independence still linger. On 12 May 1997, the bicentenary of the death of the republic, the Campanile was captured by eight men and a new Serenissima declared, albeit only briefly, before the authorities regained control.

  * One can see the same effect on Ghiberti’s celebrated Gates of Paradise in the baptistery in Florence (1425–37). Here the gilding has been scraped away on the plainer empty surfaces, the sky and the walls.

  * ‘Augustus’ and ‘Caesar’ reflected the imperial hierarchy, the former title carrying more prestige than the latter.

  * Zanella (1820–88) was a priest, an Italian nationalist, a poet and a scholar who taught at the University of Padua, a hotbed of nationalism, until thrown out by the Austrians in 1853. On the liberation of Venice in 1866 he returned to Padua as professor of Italian literature. The poem was written to commemorate the marriage of Giovanni Rossi, the son of a friend, to one Signorina Maria Bozzotti in April 1877.