User:Adammilewski/Procession in St. Mark's Square

The article explores the deep history, composition, theTrue Cross Relic, the "miracle" and the narrative portrayed by Gentile Bellini in the Procession in St. Mark’s Square. The Procession in St. Mark's Square (Italian: Processione in Piazza San Marco) is a tempera-on-canvas painting by Italian Renaissance artist Gentile Bellini, dating from c. 1496. It is housed in the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice. The paintings deep history including its commission for the Grand Hall of the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista and its current day housing will be discussed in the article. Different aspects of the paintings main components including the True Cross Relic, the "Miracle" and main focal points will be explored. Finally, the narrative and deliberate painting strategies used by Bellini will be explored, including a discussion of whether the city itself, the relic, or the miracle stand as the main entity within the painting. This discussion is important because many art historians have debated the relevancy of the many aspects within the painting, pointing towards the richness within the painting itself.

History
The painting was commissioned for the Grand Hall of the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista, a confraternity dedicated to Saint John the evangelist, the seat of the eponymous brotherhood in Venice. The commission included a total of nine large canvasses, known as the Cycle of the True Cross, by prominent artists of the time such as Bellini, Perugino, Vittore Carpaccio, Giovanni Mansueti, Lazzaro Bastiani, and Benedetto Rusconi. The subject of the paintings were to be the miracles of a fragment of the True Cross. The item had been donated to the brotherhood by Philippe de Mézières, chancellor of the Kingdom of Cyprus and Jerusalem in 1369 and soon became the object of veneration in the city. The canvasses were all executed in 1496–1501. The canvasses, painted by Gentile Bellini, and the other prominent artists involved in these projects remained in the Scuola’s Oratory of the Cross until 1806, when they were removed during the Napoleonic suppressions. The paintings were then transferred to Venice’s Accademia Galleries on July 4th 1820, and are currently housed in a room adjacent to Carpaccio’s Saint Ursula Cycle. Gentile Bellini signed and dated the Procession in the Piazza San Marco in 1496.

Description
The painting presents a well-known event that occurred on April 25, 1443, during the celebration of Saint Mark's Feast. The setting is Piazza San Marco, with the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista prominently featured, progressing from right to left. The focal point of the composition is the relic of the True Cross, enclosed within an intricate reliquary, and it has attracted a larger crowd of dedicated followers to the doge's procession, which emerges from the Porta della Carta, the ceremonial entrance to the Ducal Palace. The Cross is carried beneath a portable canopy and carried forth by thirteen brothers who carry heavy processional candles known as doppieri. On the left side, there are vocalists and instrumentalists leading the Scuola, while on the right, other brothers follow, all dressed in the Scuola's uniform (cappa) and holding votive candles. Amongst the busy crowd, Jacopo de' Salis, a visiting merchant from Brescia, kneels without a head covering in front of the relic, desperately offering his prayers, which are answered miraculously. Jacopo's narrative is intertwined with a distressing incident from a few days earlier, where his younger son sustained a severe head injury in which he had little hope for survival. While strolling through Piazza San Marco, Jacopo witnessed the Scuola parading the relic of the True Cross, attempting to call healing properties for his son, he knelt before the relic and prayed for his son's recovery. The painting intricately captures the lively atmosphere of Piazza San Marco, portraying a diverse spectrum of individuals, ranging from the elite patricians to ordinary citizens, beggars, friars, and people from various areas of life. They collectively serve as witnesses to the extraordinary event that was unknowingly transpiring. Notably, the artist Gentile's rendering of the Basilica di San Marco is impressively accurate, adding to the painting's significance.

The True Cross
The item, donated by Philippe de Mézières in 1369, quickly gained respect in the city. The canvasses were all created between 1496 and 1501, with numerous paintings and stories surrounding this relic. The Scuola of San Giovanni Evangelista employed legends to emphasize the power of their cherished relic and enshrouded it in an aura of secrecy. The narration of such stories and their inclusion in the official mythography of the Scuola elevated the value of a seemingly regular object, despite its sacred origins, which might have been overlooked in a city full with relics and miracles as exacerbated by the deliberation on what the significance of this painting really is.

Although the Cross's donation appears uncontroversial on the surface, it carries a fundamental link to Constantinople, a city that Venice played a significant role in sacking during the Fourth Crusade less than a century before this particular donation. Venetian fleets returned with legendary treasures, many of which now line the exterior of San Marco. While the sacking of Constantinople, marked by its extreme means and scale, aligns with practices prevalent in Christendom and endorsed under the Latin term "feurta sacra," it also underscores Venice's claim to divine authority in rescuing relics from infidels and heretics. This authority was reinforced by perceived miracles and the triumph of their endeavors. The translation of St. Mark's relics exemplifies a classic "feurta sacra" narrative, in which two Venetian merchants validate their right to the evangelical relics by citing a supposed threat to the relics' safety.

The "Miracle"
During the Feast of St. Mark in 1443, something extraordinary happened with a valuable relic of the True Cross owned by the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista. It happened during a procession in Piazza San Marco, a special event to honor Venice's patron saint. A man named Jacopo de Salis from Brescia was in the crowd, and he fell to his knees before this relic. His desperate prayer was for his young son, who had suffered a severe injury to the head in a fall. Jacopo received the terrible news about his son while he was away from his family on business. When Jacopo returned home, he received surprising news from local doctors. His son had experienced a miraculous recovery on the same day that Jacopo prayed to the Relic during the procession in St. Mark's Square. Jacopo knew exactly where to express his gratitude: he contacted the Guardian Grande of the Scuola di San Giovanni and promised to bring his son to Venice to show reverence to the Cross. The Guardian included de Salis's story in a growing collection of accounts about the miraculous powers of the Cross. Although the unfolding of this story may seem typical (injury, prayer, recovery, revelation), there are some intriguing complexities at play including it use as a way to authenticate and validate the Scuola's possession of this Relic.

Bellini's Narrative
The narrative behind the Procession in St. Mark’s Square has been a topic of deliberation and discussion amongst many art historians time and time again. The deliberate technique of creating a scene where the so-called main idea of the painting is hidden away amongst the bustling activity within the extravagant Venetian City is the vehicle in which this discussion arises. The principal figures in the foreground, Jacopo de Salis, being drowned out by the enormous amount of activity takes away from the message behind the miracle occurring in the painting. The extravagant depiction of the Piazza and the Piazzetta take precedence over the miracle occurring in the painting and is shadowed by the great procession occurring as well as the extremely detailed Church di San Marco. But yet the narrative subject of the miracle performed for de’ Salis by the Cross does not take place for us to see and the many figures along with the architecture displaces interest from the true narrative subject of the painting. The miracle is said to be denied primacy of place in the painting and is essentially engulfed by all the other activity going on in the painting. Most first time viewers of the painting would say some kind of religious procession is occurring, not a supernatural event. The painting hides it ostensible subject, the healing of the son of the Brescian merchant by the Scuola’s relic. The above sequence of excerpts taken from various sources illustrates the origin in which the deliberation of narrative takes place for this painting. With the use of an incunabulum commissioned by the scuola a casual viewer of this painting is able to identify the supernatural healing of the merchant son in response to his prayer to the cross. The main event taking place within this painting is the miraculous healing. This event however, as stated above, and which is frequently argued over, is drowned out by the incredible depiction of the procession occurring, the many different figures present in the painting, and the extravagant depiction of the Church di San Marco. In this section, further exploration of the different narrative subjects in the painting will be discussed.

One of the main ideas discussed amongst various art historians is the idea that the city itself, Venice, is playing the role of the protagonist in the painting. Miracles aside, the city of Venice is the primary civic centre in which this massive procession is occurring giving it this corporate identity. The picture itself plays into the so-called Myth of Venice used as a fundamental vehicle for Venetian propaganda and as a way to instate the cities validity amongst many powers that threaten the sovereignty of Venice. The structure of the composition and the attention to detail by the painters suggests how the Relic's presence and the ownership by the Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista plays into the depiction of the wealth within the city of Venice. The way that this idea is accomplished is by the close attention to detail in depicted the background in which this supernatural event is taking place. The meticulous attention to the topography of the scene is "typically venetian". The way in which Bellini is able to depict the serene and orderliness of the procession with all the patricians, citizens, clergy, and populace was intended to reflect the civic harmony of the Most Serene Republic. What a viewer of this painting can see is the careful rendering of the Church di San Marco, the piazza, and the Venetian populace; a fabulous elaboration of the story set in the Piazza San Marco. A scan of this painting by a viewer unaware of what is taking place will result in the admiration of the city itself, the spectacle of detail, and the identity of the Venetian populace. This, however, is determined as problematic by some and seen as a way the Scuola was able to gain power in the global scale. Gentile was commissioned to render a beautiful painting to display the authority of the Scuola and the power it held. What is not visualized in the painting is what people of the fifteenth century would normally have encountered going to the piazza. Visitors of the piazza would have seen hundreds of vendor stalls, the display of freaks and curiosities, criminals in cages and the various latrines in the piazza.

There is also debate that the protagonist of Bellini's story is not the Relic, but is actually the Basilica di San Marco. The Church is centrally located on the vanishing point of the painting, is by far the largest object in the painting, dominates the upper half of the canvas, and is almost seen as being held up by the procession occurring in the bottom half of the composition. Inspection of the Churches details reveal that it is the most developed, covered with golden mosaics, beautiful marble and skillfully rendered architectural facades. There is a subtle comparison between the actual relic and the depiction of the Church di San Marco. Both are crafted with meticulous metal work. Lined with rich golden and metallic material. A viewer can almost picture themselves in the painting and see the shimmering of the metalwork and golden lining on the spectacular arches of the Basilica. The similarity in the depiction of the relic and church plays into the authority of the Scuola, as this supernatural object belongs to them and the city of Venice. It plays further into the Myth of Venice and the justification of Venice as a strong sovereign state. It has also come to the attention of many scholars that the figures present within the painting take the attention away from the miracle that is occurring and further add to the Venetian experience. The depiction of De' Salis is clearly obscured by the closely packed ranks of white-robed confratelli who carry the relic and its protective canopy. The figures within this highly organized and magnificent procession drain out the picture of De' Salis kneeling down to the cross and praying for the healing of his son. The viewer of this painting will scan the borders of the painting and observe the diversity of dress and figures that are present at this massive event. Further inspection of the painting allows one to see spectators of this procession that is occurring, both looking towards the relic or the Church. The figures in the center of the procession are example of Germans, Ottoman Turks, Greeks, and Italians present in Venice at that time. They are dressed in extravagant attire, allowing for a viewer to further admire a different aspect of the painting, taking away from the main idea of the healing done by the Relic.