I believe, five francs. I have not laid out this larger amount; but in
the other I have spent some time and seen various priceless temporal
indications of spiritual power. There is a sword of Doge Mocenigo, a
wonderful turquoise bowl, a ring for the Adriatic nuptials, and so
forth. But I doubt if such details of S. Mark's are things to write
about. One should go there to see S. Mark's as a whole, just as one goes
to Venice to see Venice.

The Baptistery is near the entrance on the left as you leave the church.
But while still in the transept it is interesting to stand in the centre
of the aisle with one's back to the high altar and look through the open
door at the Piazza lying in the sun. The scene is fascinating in this
frame; and one also discovers how very much askew the façade of S.
Mark's must be, for instead of seeing, immediately in front, the centre
of the far end of the square, as most persons would expect, one sees
Naya's photograph shop at the corner.

The Baptistery is notable for its mosaic biography of the Baptist, its
noble font, and the beautiful mural tomb of Doge Andrea Dandolo. Andrea,
the last Doge to be buried within S. Mark's, was one of the greatest of
them all. His short reign of but ten years, 1343 to 1354, when he died
aged only forty-six, was much troubled by war with the Genoese; but he
succeeded in completing an alliance against the Turks and in finally
suppressing Zara, and he wrote a history of Venice and revised its code
of laws. Petrarch, who was his intimate friend, described Andrea as
"just, upright, full of zeal and of love for his country ... erudite ...
wise, affable, and humane." His successor was the traitor Marino
Faliero. The tomb of the Doge is one of the most beautiful things in
Venice, all black bronze.