The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-05-29

HBEGIN this paper with an attempt to
describe the cathedral of San Marco.
i l deliberately say, with an attempt
to describe" the great cathedral. for
cannot hope to do full justice to this
matchless fame. Many persons have es-
sayed this task, with failure as the result.
can hope to do no better than hundreds
of others, and yet may be able to record
my Impressions in a way that shall not
appear to be hackneyed, though l fail
short of conveying to the reader the pro-
found emotions excited by my first view
of San Marcos.
This cathedral is not the largest struc-
ture In the world devoted to divine wor-
ship; as witness the Duomo, at Florence;
the great snowy cathedral at Milan; ST.
Peters, at Rome; San Giovanni Laterano,
and many others in the city of Rome
and others in many cities. But in some
respects it is the most appealingly beau
tiful and poetic church building In the
world.
1t has been called byzantine magic
or splendor," "a sea-born vase of ala
baster, full of incense and prayers" "a
concrete dream" "a palpable poem" and
"a group of grandeur" Although 1t was
built in the eleventh century, and Is
now old and venerable, the storms of the
ages have but mellowed its marble cloist-
ers, and atmospheric attrition has round
ed its once sharp corners. 1t Is more
beautiful today than 1t ever was in all
the centuries that have solemnly swept
over It in their silent flight into eternity
In shape the cathedral has the form
of the Greek cross, with a mosque-like
dome at each corner of the cross, while
far above the meeting point of the arms
Of the cross at the top of the beam, or
perhaps a little short of the top of the
beam, there rises great dome, swelling
rs 1t ascends to a certain height. then
diminishing its lines until they meet at
the base of cross that shines like gold
~ the sun falls upon it. Each one Of
the minor mosques are, also, similarity
adorned.
The facade is an artistic dream in mar
Die; every stroke upon it was made by
artists. Above the central portal there
y a small gallery, on which rear and
charge the celebrated bronze horses,
which Constantine is said to have taken
from Rome to Constantinople in the
fourth century, and which were brought
10 Venice in the year 1905. They were
carried away by the Vandal, Napoleon,
IN 1897, but restored to Venice by the al
Ned powers in 1916. Sir Walter Scott gives
4 most graphic account of the riots that
rose when the horses were about to be
removed from Paris. where Napoleon had
placed them, to be shipped back to their
old home at Venice. have personal
pleasure in knowing that they are now
where they had been for SO many CEN
turtles. BY the way, these bronze equines
are the only horses in Venice.
As one crosses the threshold Of the his
Anrjc cathedral he sees an inland disk of
white and red marble In the pavement.
II marks the spot where Pope Alexander
III and the Emperor Barbarossa en-
hraced in reconciliation after their bitter
oetrafgement. But within these stored
walls one Is not much inclined to look
down to the marble pavement although
q rises and falls like the waves of the
Adriatic. SO uneven is it; for a world of
sacred beauty invites one to behold
around him and above him. such tributes
n religion as he has never seen before.
aaid Ruslin: 1.-The interior of the
church ia lost in a deep twilight to which
the eye must become accustomed for
some moments before the form OF the
building can be traced; and then there
opens up before us vast cave, hewn
eut into the form of cross and divided
into aisles by many pillars. Round the
Aomes of the roof the light enters only
through narrow apertures like large
stars. and here and there ray or two
from some far-away easement Wanders
into the darkness and casts phospnoric
stream upon the waves of marble that
Aeave and fall in a thousand colors along
the floor. What else there is OF light is
from torches OF silver lamps burning In
the chapes. The roof sheeted with gold
and the polished walls covered with ala
baster, give back at every curve and
angle some cleaning to the flames There
u, also. a succession of crowded imagery,
enc picture passing into another. as in
dream"
Dividing the nave from the choir there
q an ancient Rood-screen that crosses
the church: 1t is raised in bright
blaxonry against the shadow of the apse.
Here and there are shrines and chapels
fAbulously rich in art. In gold and in his
torio association. The high altar Is said