A True Taste of Venice ~  Studio Veneto

Venice

Venice is a place where history has not been lost. It has not been torn down to make way for something modern. It is said that if a sixteenth-century resident of the town were deposited in current-day Venice, he would recognize everything around him and be able to find his way through the calli without hesitation………. Tra le Calli ~ Venezia Venice

  

The Lion of Venice

The Lion of Saint Mark, representing the evangelist St Mark, pictured in the form of a winged lion,^[1] is the symbol of the city of Veniceand formerly of the Republic of Venice. It appears also in both merchant and military naval flags of the Italian Republic. The Lion of Saint Mark is also the symbol of the award of the Venice Film Festival, the "Golden Lion", and of the insurance company Assicurazioni Generali.

Other elements often included in depictions of the lion include a halo over his head, a book, and a sword in its paws.

St Mark and Venice

Venetian tradition states that when St. Mark was traveling through Europe, he arrived at a lagoon in Venice, where an angel appeared to him and said "Pax tibi Marce, evangelista meus. Hic requiescet corpus tuum." (May Peace be with you, Mark, my evangelist. Here your body will rest.) This (possibly apocryphal) tradition was used as justification by Rustico da Torcello and Bon da Malamocco in 828^[3] for stealing the remains of St. Mark from his grave in Alexandria, and moving them to Venice, where they were eventually interred in the Basilica of St. Mark.

Symbolism

St Mark, represented as a lion, is a typical Christian iconography derived from the prophetic visions contained in the verse of the Apocalypse of St John 4: 7. The lion is one of the four living creatures described in the book as a place around the throne of the Almighty and they are chosen as symbols of the four evangelists. These "beings" were previously described by the prophet Ezekiel.

The lion is associated with Mark as a function of the words with which he began his Gospel with reference to St John the Baptist: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of God."

As it is written with the prophet Isaiah: "Behold, I send my messenger ahead of you, he will prepare your way."

The voice of the one who cries in the wilderness: "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths." (Gospel according to Mark 1:1–3)

The lion also symbolizes the power of the Evangelist's word, the wings symbolize the spiritual elevation, while the halo is the traditional Christian symbol of holiness.

However, the lion symbols express also the significance of majesty and power (drawn especially from the upward feline tail), while the book expresses the concepts of wisdom and peace and the halo gives an image of religious piety.

There are many symbolic interpretations with the possible combination of sword and book:

·       An open book is a symbol of the state's sovereignty (many depictions are of doges kneeling before such representation);

·       A closed book, however, is considered as a symbol of a delegated sovereignty, and hence the public courts;

·       An open book (and the sword on the ground is not visible) is popularly considered as a symbol of peace for the state of Venice, but this is not corroborated by any historical source;

·       A closed book and a drawn sword are popular but mistakenly considered as a symbol of the state in war;

·       Finally, an open book and a sword are considered as a symbol of public justice.

However, these interpretations are not universally accepted as the Republic of Venice (Serenissima) never codified its symbols. Rare, but are presented, are also depictions of the lion without a book or a sword and sometimes without the halo (especially in a representation of a statue).

In some depictions the lion rests his front paws on the ground, often in cities with rivers or in ones close to water, indicating the Venetian balanced power on land and sea.

Depictions

The Venetian lion appears in two distinct forms. One is as a winged animal resting on water, to symbolise dominance over the seas, holding St. Mark’s Gospel under a front paw. You can see these mighty animals all round the Mediterranean, usually on top of a classical stone column. The other form is known as the lion “in moleca”, in the form of a crab. Here the lion is depicted full-faced with its wings circled around the head resembling the claws of a crustacean. It is emerging from water, so that the lion “in moleca” is associated with the lagoon and the city, whereas the standing winged lion is thought to be more associated with Venetian territory around the Mediterranean.

Lion Of Saint Mark

The winged lion has long been a traditional symbol of Venice. It is one symbol of Mark the Evangelist, who has been the is the city's patron saint ever since his remains were taken from a tomb in Alexandria, Egypt, and brought to Venice in 828 AD. Venice's original patron saint had been St. Theodore, a soldier-saint perhaps best known for battling a dragon (or, as a statue of him in Venice depicts it, a crocodile), but as Venice grew and became an important player in world affairs, it was felt that a more prestigious saint was needed. And so, St. Mark was chosen.

The lion of Venice is usually depicted with its paw on an open book that contains the text "Pax tibi, Marce, Evangelista meus." This Latin phrase translates as "Peace be upon you, O Mark, my Evangelist." Venetian legend has it that, while visiting the region of Italy that would later become the Veneto, Mark was approached by an angel, greeted with those words, and told that the Venetian lagoon would be his ultimate resting place. The actual story is most likely as described above, with the Venetians taking it upon themselves to fulfill the angel's prophecy (which they probably wrote themselves, too).

Interestingly, during times of war, the lion was depicted with a sword in one paw and the book, closed, safely kept under the other. Other depictions sometimes show a halo about the lion's head, the words on the book abbreviated to their initials, and the lion in moleca (showing only the head, top of the body, and paws). As one might expect, the lion could be found everywhere throughout the city – as statues on buildings, carved into wellheads, in patere, and every other place imaginable.

After the republic fell following Napoleon's invasion, however, over 1,000 lions were removed throughout the city in an effort to suppress Venetian pride. A Venetian stonemason was contracted to carry out their removal, but he did a poor job (undoubtedly on purpose), overlooking many of the lions in the city. The ones that did get erased left behind empty decorative panels on whatever they had previously adorned, something one can still find throughout the city today.

The Winged Lion and Venice

The winged lion of St. Mark is the symbol of the City of Venice and is frequently shown with its paw on an open book.  Some surmise that the lion and  book represent power, wisdom, peace, and justice.   As a book lover, it was such a joy to turn a corner and find another book.

The winged lion on the clock tower in Piazza San Marco. The phrase on the book, “PAX TIBI MARCE EVANGELISTA MEVS”,  means something along the lines of “Peace be with you Mark my Evangelist”.  This refers to St. Mark the Apostle, the patron saint of Venice.   Image:  Nicholas Laughlin