The Porch with the Old Mosaics, St. Mark's, Venice 1899

Maurice Prendergast captured this view of St. Mark's in Venice with watercolor. The old mosaics adorning the porch are not merely decoration but potent symbols of faith and history. The figures represented in mosaic form are suggestive of religious figures in procession. This motif echoes processions found in Byzantine art, like those in Ravenna, where rows of saints bear witness to divine power. Over time, the procession has become a symbol of communal devotion and spiritual journey. Note the ever-present doves fluttering around the Basilica. They are symbols of peace, the Holy Spirit, and purity. But recall how doves also appear in pagan rituals, linking Aphrodite to divine love and renewal. This points to how visual symbols evolve, layered with cultural memory, to engage us on a subconscious level. The mosaics and doves are cyclical, continually resurfacing through history, their meanings transformed, connecting us to the eternal story of humanity's spiritual quest.