Introduction Begun with the cathedral complex at Pisa and expanded upon in the Basilica of San Marco in Venice, Italian architects of the 11th century were not only able to glorify their own Christian God and saints, but also asserted their dominance over eastern ‘heretics’ through the adaptation and outright theft of eastern architectural influences. These influences can be seen in everything from the bulbous form of the domes to the minor adornments of the cathedrals. The earliest Italian architects were priest and monks who used skilled craftsmen to carry out their ideas of communal Christian living. Italian buildings in the early period of 1000-1150 were heavily influenced by local art. By 1300, the Charlemagne had established trade routes, these trade routes helped Italian architecture to disseminate their style across Europe. In this essay, I will cover the eastern influences on religious architecture. I will focus my analysis on the Cathedral complex at Pisa and the Basilica of San Marco in Venice.Main body Venice is a city built upon the over 100 islets located in a lagoon off the north eastern coast of the famous Italian peninsula. The city was founded in the 7th century and grew to be among the largest cities around Europe. It was considered the capital city of a great trading empire which extended as far as the eastern Mediterranean. Initially, Venice had forged strong political ties with the Byzantium. In the 10th and 11th centuries, these political ties to the Byzantium served to their advantage as Venice was able to obtain trading freedom from Byzantine Emperors. These privileges gave Venice an advantage over their rivals from cities in Western Europe. Venetian gold ducat had currency throughout the near east, an indication of the importance of Merchants of Venice in the east. As the trade between Venetians and the east broadened, they continued to increase their contacts with Muslims. Their cultures, way of life and general ideas came into contact. As a result of this contact, Venice was turned into the most vital Christian Interface with Muslim civilization from the near east . The dynamic relationship between Venice and the Islamic trading partners had its consequences on the art works of Venice. Venice art started copying the Egyptian and Syrian Mamluks, the Turkish Ottomans, and the Safavids of Iran. Various portable Islamic art were brought to Venice by the trading merchants together with spices, cotton, industrial supplies, and soap. The Islamic artifacts brought included velvets, comfy carpets, porcelain, glass, silks, illustrated manuscripts, inlaid metalworks, and gilded bookings. The Islamic works of art brought to Venice were of superior quality to those made in Europe. For this reason, they made a permanent imprint on the artistic taste in Venice. Since the medieval age to the era of Baroque, Venetians had been acquiring Islamic art; becoming accustomed and imitating their techniques. This act of adopting Islamic art techniques made Venice art to become of interest to the Islamic world and the Far East . Saint Mark Basilica in Venice is an example of a Christian architectural piece in Venice where elements of Eastern influences are visible. St. Mark’s square has been admired and celebrated by artists and scholars for centuries. Its beauty and harmony have been the key reasons for their deep admiration. Napoleon the great described it as the most beautiful parlor he had ever seen in the entire world. The Basilica has accumulated numerous holy relics. During the trading period between Venice merchants and Islam from the East, The Venetians were guided by their love of beautiful objects and thereby acquired most of the beautiful artifacts that the Byzantenians had on offer. By the time when Byzantine rule collapsed, Venetians had acquired almost every bit of rarest gems and beautiful objects. These holy relics in the Basilica are among the precious items that were sourced from the East during that period. The splendid objects of adornment in the Pala d’Oro are the objects that were obtained from the Byzantine culture . The exterior part of the Basilica displays great Islamic influence on the architectural masterpiece. The exterior of the Basilica is divided into three registers. These are the lower register, the upper register and the domes. The dome canopies at the Basilica are evidence of Islamic influence in the architectural masterpiece. The canopies at the top of the domes greatly resemble the Islamic domes that top the minarets in Mameluke Cairo. Five arched portals that are surrounded by marble columns comprise the lower register. The center arched portal is slightly larger, and huge bronze doors open into the Basilica’s narthex. Mosaics that depict the stories regarding St. Mark’s relics are placed far above the lateral portals. The mosaic on the left side is the oldest, and it depicts how the Basilica looked like in the twelfth century (mid-12th century) . Although the arrangement and the narrow profile of the Basilica’s windows were taken from their Christian precedents, their inflected nature was inspired by Islamic architecture. Islamic architecture greatly uses this style in its window designs. There are marble or stone frames around all main floor windows. The frames are used to show the importance of the windows and were replicated from the Islamic alfiz. The alfiz is a word drawn from either from Andalusian Arabic or Classical Arabic a container. The alfiz as an architectonic adornment consists of a rectangular panel molding that encloses the outer part of the arch. Although it is an Islamic ornament, the alfiz has been appearing in non-Arab architecture from the 8th century. The alfiz is also very common in the Hispanic artwork, and there are two variants of the adornment. The first variant is an alfiz that starts from the floor while the second one is the one that starts from the impost. There is a richly decorated space between the alfiz and the arch . The pre- renaissance painting by Paolo Veneziano and his sons Giovanni and Luca from the Basilica is another evidence of Islamic influence in the Basilica’s architectural work. The painting is a very gorgeous panel that is divided into 14 sections glowing with gold-leaf. The painting was executed in the middle of the 14th century, and it greatly reflects the high level of devotion that the Evangelist’s cult aroused in Venice. The Evangelist's cult was born when St. Mark the evangelist’s body arrived in Venice from Alexandria in Egypt. The body was brought to Venice by two Venetian merchants who stole it from Egypt (Alexandria) where he was martyred around 68AD after serving as bishop. The relic was solemnly received by the doge of Venice and the bishop. It was then deposited in the chapel of Ducal. St. Mark was the founder of the patriarchate of Aquileia. The patriarchate was transferred to Grado and finally to the city of Venice. The patriarchate led the formation of a cult that was centered on the new relic in the town located at the Ducal chapel. The painting is a scene from St. Peter’s healing of a shoemaker by the name Anianus. It has a great tapering tower in the background. The tower is a representation of the famous lighthouse in Alexandria, Egypt. The image of the lighthouse appears in several other ancient Mosaics at the Basilica. Other mosaics have camels, palm trees and pyramids. These paintings are further evidence that Muslim influence in the Basilica was enormous. The interior of the Basilica displays deep Islamic architectural influence on the structure. The interior has magnificent floors decorated with marble with interspersed animal patterns arranged in a geometric pattern. The walls have been covered with gilded mosaics. There is a Baldacchino or canopy above the high altar. The canopy also known as the golden pall is a golden panel that has been decorated with very precious gems. The exterior of the Basilica has been covered in beautiful brickwork with several carvings and marbles. Some of these carvings may be older than the building itself. These exterior decorations are a characteristic of Islamic architecture, and they are evidence of Islamic influence in the Basilica’s architectural work.
One characteristic of Islamic architecture displayed by the cathedral is the replica of Pisa Griffin. It is located on the exterior at the East end on the column that rises from the gable. The Pisa Griffin replica is the largest metal sculpture that is known to man. The original of the replica was placed there in 12th or 11th century and is now stored in the cathedral’s museum. The presence of this replica is sufficient evidence that Pisa had deep interactions with the Islamic world. This was to the extent that Islam influenced Pisa’s religious structures to include a metal sculpture that was borrowed from the East.
The cathedral has been built on white marble and has strips of black crafted in the Romanesque style. It features the use of decorative pointed arches and colonnades. These styles of decoration are characteristic of Islamic architecture. In this way, the building illustrates the fusion of architectural designs from different time periods and cultures, notably Christianity and Islam. Marble was widely used in Islamic architectural works for decoration purposes. This inspired the designers of the cathedral to use the beautiful stone in decorating the structure. The pointed arches and colonnades are also a borrowed feature from Islamic architecture. Arches are common in mosques like the Jerusalem mosque .
The roof of the cathedral has been constructed using cross vaults applied in the side isles and flat timber. Around the nave’s perimeter, are columns topped with Roman style arches. At the crossings of the transept and nave, are gothic style arches. During the construction of the Cathedral, the architect was greatly influenced by Islamic designs. Islamic mosques for example the Dome of Jerusalem were often filled with paining that was two-tone on the columns and arches. These influences in the cathedral are evident in the upper picture with a stripped column above white and black crosses. Islamic architecture is also evident in the arches of the cathedral. The arches resemble the ones found in the beautiful courtyard of the Masjid-I Jami mosque. These direct resemblances with features found in Islamic architectural pieces like mosques, are enough evidence that the Cathedral was greatly influenced by Islamic architectural styles.
The cathedral was very costly to build and took several years. A lot of planning was involved at the time when the Cathedral was built. This was not common with Christian buildings. It was Islamic influence that inspired the designers and the Christian communities to take so long in coming up with the religious structures. The cathedral has a mosaic that was done by an artist named Cimabue. Cimabue was a respected painter who specifically painted for the church. He is the artist who is believed to have made the painting of ‘mother and child enthroned’ located in the main altar at the Holy Trinity Church located in Florence, Italy. During this time period, mosaics were not often done for the church. The materials needed were very expensive and artists who could satisfactorily complete the job were rare. In this case, the church made sure that the materials were available and in addition went for the most expensive and experienced painter of the time. This showed that the cathedral was highly regarded by the church. The cathedral took many years to build. It is evident that the Church put a lot of effort in ensuring that the cathedral was completed as desired. It was not characteristic of the church at that time. The sacrifices made were inspired and influenced by Islamic architecture. Islamic architects and the community in general usually took a long time in planning and coming up with structures. This attitude and keenness was reflected in the planning, design and construction of the cathedral.
Recent studies on the cities of Venice and Pisa have made it clear that the unifying factors were their shared religious and cultural codes between Islam and Christianity. The codes influenced and molded the views of all the people who lived in the cities. Islamic civilization and the history of the two cities ran parallel to each other. Around 65 years after the prophet died, the first Doge was elected in Venice in A.D 697. Just like Pisa, the city also competed both economically and militarily with the Islamic world throughout its history. Religion was a major cause of conflicts in the past but this was not the case in the Italian cities where there were aspects of two religions. Venice was traditionally cautious and suspicious of papal authority but its people were greatly proud of the pope as the father and defender of Christian faith in the region. Islamic influence in Venice as demonstrated by the architectural artwork at the St. Mark’s Basilica is great. The Islamic influence in the beautiful lagoon city is magnificent and several generations to come will live to admire the rich architectural works of the city. The architectural works at Pisa and Venice have stood through the test of time as evidence to the modern world that careful planning and execution of architectural plans can give great results that are capable of standing through the test of time for centuries .
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