MOSAIC ARTIST, Italian
(active around 1100 in Venice)

Main apse (detail)

c. 1100
Mosaic
Basilica di San Marco, Venice

Around 1100, only slightly later than the main portal, the main apse of San Marco was decorated with mosaics that have not wholly survived. All that remains from that early phase are the four figures of saints in the window level: Peter, Mark, Nicholas, and Hermagoras. Their importance as Venice's patron saints is emphasized in the inscription above.