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The ciborium over the main altar of the basilica of San Marco is supported by four columns of oriental alabaster, sculpted with sacred stories inspired by the New Testament. It is dated to the beginning of the thirteenth century.
The niches on the columns represent scenes, like the descent into limbo, not used in Early Christian art but only in medieval. This conflicts with the hypothesis that the four columns are Early Christian work from the fifth century. The four columns are not of the same quality, the two front columns are more refined than the two at the back. Probably a workshop was involved in the work, not just a single sculptor.
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