CHAPTER II.
S.MARK'S.

I: THE EXTERIOR Rival cathedrals--The lure of S.Mark's--The facade at night--The Doge's device--S.

Mark's body--A successful theft--Miracle pictures--Mosaic patterns--The central door--Two problems--The north wall--The fall of Venice--Napoleon--The Austrian occupation--Daniele Manin--Victor Emmanuel--An artist's model--The south wall--The Pietra del Bando--The pillars from Acre.
Of S.Mark's what is one to say?
To write about it at all seems indeed more than commonly futile.

The wise thing to do is to enter its doors whenever one has the opportunity, if only for five minutes; to sit in it as often as possible, at some point in the gallery for choice; and to read Ruskin.
To Byzantine architecture one may not be very sympathetic; the visitor may come to Venice with the cool white arches of Milan still comforting his soul, or with the profound conviction that Chartres or Cologne represents the final word in ecclesiastical beauty and fitness; but none the less, in time, S.Mark's will win.

It will not necessarily displace those earlier loves, but it will establish other ties.
But you must be passive and receptive.