ARCHITECTURE. 135 
form its ends. St. Mark’s has five complete domes, surmounted by pear- 
shaped turrets on their summits. The front of St. Sophia has simple but- 
tresses, whilst St. Mark’s has sixty-six Corinthian columns 13 feet high, on 
pedestals, grouped perspectively around five entrances of different sizes and 
surmounted by bold arches. St. Sophia’s has no such gateways. The 
cupolas in St. Mark’s are constructed of timber and coated inside and outside. 
This construction was adopted in order to attain the greatest possible light- 
ness, the edifice being erected on piles. It also allowed the construction of 
very light walls, those under the cupolas being only 3 feet thick; the walls 
of the circumference 4 feet; the pillars dividing the gateways, however, are 
14 feet thick. The faces between the arches in the front are decorated with 
mosaic work. The main arch over the centre entrance supports four bronze 
horses of Greek workmanship, whilst its archivolt exhibits the pictures 
of the prophets distributed in festoons of leaves. The doors are of bronze, 
and were cast in Venice in the fourteenth century. Those of the main 
entrance are said to have been cast by Grecian artists, and were carried away 
from the church of St. Sophia in Constantinople after the conquest of that 
city by the Venetians. The perspective gateways form porticoes before the 
doors, and are decorated like the interior of the domes with mosaic work. 
The altar stands on four antique columns of yellowish marble in the semi- 
circular sanctuary. It is separated from the nave of the church by a 
railing supporting the statues of St. Mary and the twelve Apostles, made 
by the brothers Giacobelli in the fourteenth century. The church contains 
a number of other remarkable statues. The doors of the vestry, cast in 1576 
by Sansovino, and exhibiting several haut-relief figures, are real master- 
pieces. | 
The church of St. Theotokus in Constantinople (pl. 28, fig. 5, view ; jig. 6, 
lateral section ; jig. 7, plan; jigs. 8-15, details), has greater architectural 
affinities to that of St. Mark than of St. Sophia. It was probably erected 
under Justinian. The principal entrance is on the west side, and is approach- 
ed by adouble flier. The portico extends some distance back on both sides 
of the naves, and is lighted by two windows, each of three arched divisions, 
formed by two columns between three sculptured marble panels. In 
this portico are a number of columns, evidently antique. Both extremities 
of the portico have entrances to the side porticoes. The northern one has 
two columns and leads into the baptistery. A door on the south side of 
this room leads into a vestibule situated between the front portico and the 
naves, and having three doors leading into the three naves, three others 
opening into the front portico, and one opposite the entrance from the 
baptistery, which leads into the south portico. The church proper forms an 
exact square, but its middle nave is much wider than the side ones. The 
centre is surmounted by a dome resting on four columns. The vestibule 
. and portico have four other cupolas. The sanctuary is separated from the 
_ principal nave by two thick pillars, and communicates by doors with the 
two vestries, which have also doors to the side aisles. On the south side 
of the church a second side aisle is attached, which has its separate entrance 
from without and communicates with the church proper by three arches 
135 
