L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano P iazza San Marco is the heart of Venice and, if you've been to La Serenissima, you definitely spent some time there, either enjoying a Spritz at one of its many cafés or walking through the square itself, perhaps towards the Basilica, preparing spiritually to enter, enjoy its beauty, say a prayer. If you know Piazza San Marco, then, you definitely k n o w i t s t w o b e a u t i f u l columns, that stand at the very entrance of the square, t o w a r d s t h e p i e r a n d t h e S a n M a r c o b a s i n . T h e y , majestic, guard the square and the Basilica and they are among the first things you see while you reach this much-trafficked spot in the c i t y f r o m t h e l a g o o n . O n one of them, proudly stands a w i n g e d l i o n , s y m b o l of Saint Mark, patron of Venice; on the other, a stat- ue of Saint Theodore (or S a i n t T o d a r o , t o s a y i t Venetian) standing on the h e a d o f a c r o c o d i l e . Theodore was, in antiquity, t h e p r o t e c t o r o f t h e c i t y , too. According to tradition, they were erected during t h e r u l e o f S e b a s t i a n o Ziani, towards the end of the 12th century, when the s q u a r e w a s e x t e n d e d . However, historical, artistic and archaeological investi- gations seem all to point at a l a t e r p l a c e m e n t o f t h e columns on the square, like- ly during the second half of the 13th century. T h e r e a r e t w o s p e c i f i c c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e columns that would confirm this: first of all, the materi- als used to build them, red Egyptian marble for Saint Theodore's, and "troadense" m a r b l e f o r S a i n t M a r k ' s , w e r e c o m m o n l y u s e d t o erect columns in the east of the Roman Empire during L a t e A n t i q u i t y , w h i c h makes the possibility they came from Constantinople (today's Istanbul), very like- ly. It is, therefore, possible that, just like most of the B y z a n t i n e v e s t i g e s i n V e n i c e , t h e t w o c o l u m n s c a m e t o t h e S e r e n i s s i m a sometimes between 1204 and 1261, that is, during the years of the Latin Empire of C o n s t a n t i n o p l e , a f e u d a l Crusader state created by m e m b e r s o f t h e F o u r t h Crusade (1202-1204) after having conquered areas of the Byzantine Empire. This dating would be also con- firmed by the use of Istrian stone for their bases, a type of stone very common in 13th-century architecture. Back then, the columns were known because people c o u l d g a m b l e b e t w e e n them, an activity otherwise forbidden, but what many may not know is that, in ori- g i n , t h e c o l u m n s s h o u l d have been three. However, the sources we have about the existence of the third c o l u m n r e c o n n e c t t o t h e e a r l i e r d a t i n g o f t h e columns themselves, and to t h e i r p r e s e n c e i n V e n i c e d u r i n g t h e r u l e o f D o g e Sebastiano Ziani, who ruled between 1172 and 1178, not t o o f a r , i n f a c t , f r o m t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e F o u r t h Crusade and the establish- ment of the Latin Empire of Constantinople. So, legend says that the three columns were part of the spoils of the w a r C o n s t a n t i n o p l e h a d w o n a g a i n s t t h e k i n g o f T y r u s , i n m o d e r n - d a y Lebanon. They were a gift for the Doge from captain Jacopo Orseolo Falier. Each of them traveled to Venice on a different ship but, when they eventually reached the lagoon, one of t h e t h r e e , p e r h a p s f o r a human mistake, perhaps for the breaking of a rope or p e r h a p s b e c a u s e o f b a d weather that caused violent, dangerous waves, fell into t h e w a t e r a n d w a s n e v e r found again. The bottom of the sea was so muddy that it w a s i m p o s s i b l e t o f i n d i t and bring it back to the sur- f a c e , e v e n i f s e v e r a l attempts were carried out. But the destiny of the two surviving columns wasn't, at least for a while, much b e t t e r . B e c a u s e o f t h e i r sheer size and weight, no o n e k n e w h o w t o m a k e them stand, so they lay hor- izontally in the square for over a century. I t w a s , e v e n t u a l l y , a b u i l d e r f r o m B e r g a m o , Nicolò Barattieri , who managed to raise them up and guard the square. He i n g e n i o u s l y u n d e r s t o o d that, by wetting all ropes and letting them dry, they'd shrink, causing the heavy m a r b l e c o l u m n s t o m o v e upward. And, as a payback to his ingenuity and work, he asked the Doge to allow g a m b l i n g b e t w e e n t h e columns: so now we know also why the activity was legal there! There are more curiosi- t i e s a b o u t t h e c o l u m n s , more precisely, about the statues above them. Saint Mark's lion, for instance, may not be a lion at all, as many believe it was origi- nally the effigy of a chimera, to which wings were added at a later stage. And what a b o u t S a i n t T h e o d o r e ? Nothing mysterious there, the statue as said represents the warrior saint killing a dragon, there depicted in t h e s h a p e o f a c r o c o d i l e . There is, however, a curiosi- t y : t h e o r i g i n a l s t a t u e i s today at the entry of Palazzo D u c a l e , b e c a u s e i t h a d b e c o m e t o o f r a g i l e t o b e outside, so there is a copy on the column. And what about the third column? Well, it was said, back in the day, that it was surmounted by the statue of a Byzantine merchant, who wore a hat similar to that t h e V e n e t i a n D o g e w o r e . But that's only legendary hearsay... The mystery of Piazza San Marco's lost column LUCA SIGNORINI Piazza San Marco's famous columns (Photo: GoranJakus/Dreamstime) HERITAGE HISTORY IDENTITY TRADITIONS

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