One thing frequently begets another, and our recent considerations of some of the lesser noticed spaces of St. Mark's Basilica continues, this time with another small chapel found within the basilica, the Chapel of the Madonna del Mascoli.
The Chapel of the Madonna del Mascoli is located within the north transept of the basilica (or, in other words, the left transept as one stands in the nave looking toward the high altar of the basilica). It is a small space, but a noble one.
The website of the basilica itself describes the chapel accordingly:
Since 1618 [the chapel] has belonged to [the Mascoli] Confraternity... established in St. Mark’s in the 12th century and based first in the crypt, then at the altar of St. John, now of the Nicopeia Virgin. There is an important mosaic cycle on the chapel vault, begun in the first half of the 15th century by the Venetian Michele Giambono. The decoration was inspired by the chapel’s original dedication to the Virgin. In fact the canonical episodes of her life are illustrated in a sequence starting from the left side: the Birth, the Presentation at the Temple, the Annunciation, the Visitation and the Death (or Dormitio Virginis).
The space that the chapel occupies is thought to have originally served another function -- perhaps a vestibule -- before being converted into the present Marian chapel beginning in the year 1430 under the Doge of Venice, Francesco Foscari.
The mosaics that decorate the chapel are considered, by some at least, to be some of the most impressive in the entire basilica, done with a particular delicacy of form and colour. These mosaics were designed by the Renaissance Venetian artist, Michele Giambono (+1462). The mosaics in question present a cycle of scenes taken from the life of the Blessed Virgin, including the Presentation at the Temple, the Annunciation, the Nativity and the Visitation. 
The first thing we are greeted by here is the beautiful marble balustrade which separates this chapel from the rest of the church. Above it, two hanging lampada which lend the chapel space a certain visual gravitas.
What initially drew my own attention to this chapel, however, is the marble altar and altarpiece and in particular the beautiful red marble revetments found on the northern wall behind and around the altar. This is absolutely exquisite Romano-Byzantine feature and it goes without saying that these red marbles, which have been cut in half so as to mirror the grain of the marble, are both precious and rare commodities that historically have been indicative of imperial usages.
However, before we look at those and some other particular details, let's taken an overall look at the chapel.
The first thing we are greeted by here is the beautiful marble balustrade which separates this chapel from the rest of the church. Above it, two hanging lampada which lend the chapel space a certain visual gravitas.
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| Detail of the balustrade |
I'd note as well that the predella of the altar is similarly made up of a beautiful polychrome Cosmatesque design.
The altar is faced by a scene of two, thuribled angels kneeling in adoration of the Cross, while the altarpiece contains three architectural niches in which are found a central figure of the Virgin and Child, with St. Mark and St. John found to either side.
Turning our attention to the mosaic work, and returning to the description found on the website of the basilica, they speak to the ceiling mosaics as follows:
The Annunciation in the large lunette at the back evinces a typically Gothic grace and gentleness with a corresponding loveliness in sign and colour. The Birth of the Virgin and the Presentation at the Temple are dominated by two Gothic architectures of crystalline beauty while the figures are characterised by soft modelling and delicate colours. The Visitation on the right wall of the chapel seems to belong to the late Gothic period, at least in the lower part, whereas above the visible “cut” the architectonic grouping is dominated by a humanistic setting and strikingly renaissance schemes. In the Dormition only, the Apostles on the right belong to the Gothic decoration while the other Apostles, the Virgin and the architecture are configured in the most typical language of Andrea del Castagno: this may be seen not only in the expressionism of the faces and the plastic modelling of the figures wrapped in swollen drapery and with cutting profiles, but also in the red Thessaly marble slabs covering the pillars of the immense and spacious arch of “classical” taste that acts as background to the figures of the Apostles who are rigorously detached from it.
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| The Annunciation |
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| The Visitation and Dormition of the Virgin by Jacopo Bellini and Michele Giambono |
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| The Nativity |
I would conclude our considerations by sharing a historical photo of this same chapel. showing it as it would have appeared prior to the conciliar period.
The primary difference at this point resides mainly in the candlesticks found on and around the altar. Until recently, confessionals had been in place within this chapel, but thankfully these have recently been removed, thus allowing the chapel with its beautiful altar and marbles to be seen as intended.
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