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The columns of San Marco and San Tòdaro, or columns of Piazza San Marco, in Venice, are two tall carriages in marble and granite, placed at the entrance to the St Mark's area towards the pier and the San Marco basin. They are surmounted by the statues of the patron saints of the city: Mark the Evangelist in the traditional form of a lion and San Tòdaro (Venetian name of the Byzantine Theodore of Amasea), while on the bases they have high reliefs depicting the trades that were carried out in the square.
The two columns, together with the docks of Palazzo Ducale and the
Marciana Library, constitute the monumental access to the square for
those coming from the sea.
According to tradition, the columns
were erected by Nicolò Barattiero under the Doge of Sebastiano Ziani
(1172-1178), when the square was enlarged and monumentalised. The
enormous columns, transported from the East as spoils of war, were
originally to be three, but the third carriage was lost together with
the ship that carried it during the landing. The shipwrecked column had
to sink deeply into the mud of the seabed, so much so that "looking for
it twenty years after the sinking by a specially appointed master, by
feeling the bottom with a long pole, it could not be found in any way".
However, more recent interpretations date the erection of the
columns to the second half of the 13th century. The marbles of the two
columns (Egyptian red marble for the column of S.Todaro and Troadense
marble for the column of S.Marco) were widely used for the erection of
columns in late antiquity, a fact which makes their origin from
Constantinople almost certain . Therefore it is extremely probable that
the arrival of the columns in Venice, as for most of the Byzantine
remains present in the lagoon, can be traced back to the period of the
Latin Empire of Constantinople, between 1204 and 1261.
The bases
are made of Istrian stone, a material that began to be used in Venetian
construction starting from the last quarter of the 13th century, after
the closure of the Greek marble markets following the reconquest of
Constantinople by the Byzantines. In the bases there are high reliefs
depicting trades, evidence of the period prior to the monumentalization
of Piazza San Marco in the 16th century: before the 16th century, the
square was the site of intense economic activity. The reliefs were made
in a "realistic" style, which arrived in Venice in the second quarter of
the thirteenth century and of which various works can be observed in the
decorations of the Basilica: among these in particular the reliefs of
the bases are indebted to the representations of the crafts of the arch
greater, even if their lower quality suggests that they are not the work
of the same master.
Even the style of the capitals of the columns
seems to confirm the dating of the erection of the columns to the 13th
century. They are made of Veronese stone with pink streaks and are in
the Venetian-Byzantine style, as confirmed by their resemblance to
Ruskin's second and third styles. The capitals of the columns are also
very similar to the decorations of the tomb of Denaro Odifredi in
Bologna, built around 1265 by Venetian workers.
The column that
stands on the side of Palazzo Ducale holds the winged lion, symbol of
San Marco, patron saint and symbol of the city and the Venetian state
since 862. It is a very ancient Greek or Syrian bronze sculpture,
probably originally a chimera, to which wings were later added. On the
side of the Library is, however, that of San Teodoro, Byzantine saint
and warrior, first protector of the city, depicted in marble in the act
of slaying a dragon. The bust comes from a classical statue of a Roman
emperor, while the head, the halo, the arms and the legs resting on the
slain dragon are from the Middle Ages. The sculpture is a copy of the
original exhibited at the entrance to Palazzo Ducale. According to a
legend reported by Sansovino in the 16th century, the lion of S. Marco
looks east to symbolize the role of Venice as protector of Christianity
in the East, while the statue of S. Teodoro facing west would symbolize
the defensive attitude of the Serenissima towards the Land. This
explanation of the different orientation of the two statues is evidently
prior to the 16th century (at the time the Serenissima had already
established the Dominion in the Mainland) and therefore would date back
to the era prior to the 14th century, probably to the period prior to
the fall of Acre in 1291 .
Under the columns, in the Middle Ages
and the Renaissance, wooden shops were placed, however already from the
mid-eighteenth century the space between the two stelae was destined for
the place of capital executions, so much so that the superstitious use
still persists among the local population not to cross the clearing
between the columns. A Venetian way of saying also derives from this
use: "Te fasso veder mi, che ora che xe" (I'll show you what time it
is), derived from the fact that those sentenced to death, with their
backs to the basin of San Marco last thing they saw was the clock tower.
The space between the two columns was also the only "free zone", in
which it was legal to gamble, a privilege granted to Nicolò Barattiero
(or Barattieri), or the one who managed to find a way to erect the heavy
structures left stretched out on the ground for a long time: through the
use of large ropes that were fixed to the end of a column and then wet,
which, as they dried, exerted such a traction as to allow them to be
raised a few centimeters and to insert wooden wedges underneath, the
builder from Bergamo, who had already distinguished himself in the
construction of the belfry of the bell tower of San Marco, thus
accomplished the task of lifting the heavy columns without damaging
them. As a reward, he was granted the exclusive right to gamble at the
foot of the two columns, which allowed him to become quite rich.
Origins
The columns are ancient spolia (reused architectural
elements). One is made of red Egyptian granite, the other of gray
Troadense (Trojan) granite from the region near ancient Troy. They were
most likely brought to Venice from Constantinople (modern Istanbul)
during the period of the Latin Empire (1204–1261), although some older
traditions claim they arrived earlier, possibly in 1125 under Doge
Vitale Michiel I after Venetian campaigns in the eastern Mediterranean.
For decades the columns remained lying horizontally on the ground near
the waterfront because nobody could devise a safe way to stand them
upright.
Erection (late 12th century)
According to Venetian
legend, around 1170–1172 an engineer from Bergamo named Nicolò
Barattieri (sometimes written Barattiero) solved the problem with a
brilliant technique: he wrapped thick ropes around the columns to lift
them, then continuously soaked the ropes with water. As the ropes dried,
they shrank and tightened gradually, providing controlled, incremental
lifting power. This method allowed the columns to be raised vertically
without modern cranes or excessive risk.
As a reward for this feat,
the Republic of Venice granted Barattieri the exclusive (and highly
profitable) privilege of running a public gambling house between the two
columns — an activity otherwise strictly prohibited throughout the city.
The Statues
Column of San Marco (the one nearer to the Doge's
Palace)
It is crowned by the famous bronze Winged Lion of Saint Mark,
the supreme symbol of the Venetian Republic and of St. Mark the
Evangelist (who became the city's principal patron saint after his
relics were brought to Venice in 828–829).
The bronze lion is an
ancient work, possibly of Eastern (Persian, Chinese, or Hellenistic)
origin, later adapted with wings and an open book inscribed "Pax tibi
Marce Evangelista meus" ("Peace to you, Mark, my Evangelist"). The lion
faces east, symbolically watching over Venice's maritime empire and role
as defender of Christianity in the East.
Column of San Todaro (the
one nearer to the Marciana Library)
It supports a marble statue of
Saint Theodore of Amasea (San Teodoro / Todaro), a 4th-century Byzantine
warrior saint and dragon-slayer.
Theodore was Venice's first patron
saint before the arrival of St. Mark's relics. The saint is shown
standing triumphantly on a dragon (sometimes interpreted locally as a
crocodile).
The statue visible today is a 19th-century copy; the
fragile original is preserved inside the Doge's Palace.
Historical Role and Dark Reputation
The columns marked the principal
entrance to Venice from the sea and symbolically separated the sacred
and political heart of the city (Piazza San Marco) from the commercial
and maritime world of the lagoon.
Between the 14th and late 18th
centuries the space between the two columns was used for public
executions — both hangings and beheadings. The condemned were positioned
facing the Torre dell'Orologio (Clock Tower) so that their last sight
would be the clock face — hence the grim Venetian expression "Te fasso
vedar mi, che ora che xe!" ("I'll make you see what time it is!"),
originally a real threat that later became a popular saying.
This
macabre history gave rise to a lasting superstition: many Venetians
still consider it bad luck to walk or stand between the two columns, and
the habit persists to this day.