circular window to the south. Beautiful as this is, it is utterly out of
place, and whoever cut it was a vandal.

But indeed S. Mark's ought to have a human appeal, considering the human
patience and thought that have gone to its making and beautifying,
inside and out. No other church has had much more than a tithe of such
toil. The Sistine Chapel in Rome is wonderful enough, with its frescoes;
but what is the labour on a fresco compared with that on a mosaic?
Before every mosaic there must be the artist and the glass-maker; and
then think of the labour of translating the artist's picture into this
exacting and difficult medium and absolutely covering every inch of the
building with it! And that is merely decoration; not structure at all.

There are mosaics here which date from the tenth century; and there are
mosaics which are being renewed at this moment, for the prosperity of
the church is continually in the thoughts of the city fathers. The
earliest is that of Christ, the Virgin, and S. Mark, on the inside wall
over the central door. My own favourites are all among the earlier ones.
Indeed, some of the later ones are almost repulsively flamboyant and
self-conscious. Particularly I like the great scene of Christ's agony
high up on the right wall, with its lovely green and gold border,
touched with red. But all the patterns, especially in the roof arches,
are a delight, especially those with green in them. I like too the
picture of Christ on a white ass in the right transept, with the
children laying their cloaks in His way. And the naïve scene of Christ's
temptation above it, and the quaint row of disciples beneath it, waiting
to have their feet washed.

Of the more modern mosaics the "Annunciation" and "Adoration of the
Magi" are among the most pleasing.