title: Dune

text: Dunes are most common in desert environments, where the lack of moisture hinders the growth of vegetation that would otherwise interfere with the development of dunes. However, sand deposits are not restricted to deserts, and dunes are also found along sea shores, along streams in semiarid climates, in areas of glacial outwash, and in other areas where poorly cemented sandstone bedrock disintegrates to produce an ample supply of loose sand. Subaqueous dunes can form from the action of water flow (fluvial processes) on sand or gravel beds of rivers, estuaries, and the sea-bed.


title: Dune

text: Some coastal areas have one or more sets of dunes running parallel to the shoreline directly inland from the beach. In most cases, the dunes are important in protecting the land against potential ravages by storm waves from the sea. Artificial dunes are sometimes constructed to protect coastal areas. The dynamic action of wind and water can sometimes cause dunes to drift, which can have serious consequences. For example, the town of Eucla, Western Australia, had to be relocated in the 1890s because of dune drift.


title: Dune

text: The modern word "dune" came into English from French around 1790, which in turn came from Middle Dutch "dūne".


title: Dune

text: A universally precise distinction does not exist between ripples, dunes, and a draa, which are all deposits of the same type of materials. Dunes are generally defined as greater than 7 cm tall and may have ripples, while ripples are deposits that are less than 3 cm tall. A draa is a very large eolian landform, with a length of several kilometers and a height of tens to hundreds of meters, and which may have superimposed dunes.


title: Dune

text: Dunes are made of sand-sized particles, and may consist of quartz, calcium carbonate, snow, gypsum, or other materials. The upwind/upstream/upcurrent side of the dune is called the stoss side; the downflow side is called the lee side. Sand is pushed (creep) or bounces (saltation) up the stoss side, and slides down the lee side. A side of a dune that the sand has slid down is called a slip face (or slipface).


title: Dune

text: Five basic dune types are recognized: crescentic, linear, star, dome, and parabolic. Dune areas may occur in three forms: simple (isolated dunes of basic type), compound (larger dunes on which smaller dunes of same type form), and complex (combinations of different types).


title: Dune

text: Barchan dunes are crescent-shaped mounds which are generally wider than they are long. The lee-side slipfaces are on the concave sides of the dunes. These dunes form under winds that blow consistently from one direction (unimodal


title: Dune

text: winds). They form separate crescents when the sand supply is comparatively small. When the sand supply is greater, they may merge into barchanoid ridges, and then transverse dunes (see below).


title: Dune

text: Some types of crescentic dunes move more quickly over desert surfaces than any other type of dune. A group of dunes moved more than 100 metres per year between 1954 and 1959 in China's Ningxia Province, and similar speeds have been recorded in the Western Desert of Egypt. The largest crescentic dunes on Earth, with mean crest-to-crest widths of more than three kilometres, are in China's Taklamakan Desert.


title: Dune

text: Abundant barchan dunes may merge into barchanoid ridges, which then grade into linear (or slightly sinuous) transverse dunes, so called because they lie transverse, or across, the wind direction, with the wind blowing perpendicular to the ridge crest.


title: Dune

text: Seif dunes are linear (or slightly sinuous) dunes with two slip faces. The two slip faces make them sharp-crested. They are called "seif" dunes after the Arabic word for "sword". They may be more than 160 kilometres (100 miles) long, and thus easily visible in satellite images (see illustrations).


title: Dune

text: Seif dunes are associated with bidirectional winds. The long axes and ridges of these dunes extend along the resultant direction of sand movement (hence the name "longitudinal"). Some linear dunes merge to form Y-shaped compound dunes.


title: Dune

text: Formation is debated. Ralph Bagnold, in "The Physics of Blown Sand and Desert Dunes", suggested that some seif dunes form when a barchan dune moves into a bidirectional wind regime, and one arm or wing of the crescent elongates. Others suggest that seif dunes are formed by vortices in a unidirectional wind. In the sheltered troughs between highly developed seif dunes, barchans may be formed, because the wind is constrained to be unidirectional by the dunes.


title: Dune

text: Seif dunes are common in the Sahara. They range up to in height and in length. In the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula, a vast erg, called the Rub' al Khali or Empty Quarter, contains seif dunes that stretch for almost and reach heights of over .


title: Dune

text: Linear loess hills known as pahas are superficially similar. These hills appear to have been formed during the last ice age under permafrost conditions dominated by sparse tundra vegetation.


title: Dune

text: Radially symmetrical, star dunes are pyramidal sand mounds with slipfaces on three or more arms that radiate from the high center of the mound. They tend to accumulate in areas with multidirectional wind regimes. Star dunes grow upward rather than laterally. They dominate the Grand Erg Oriental of the Sahara. In other deserts, they occur around the margins of the sand seas, particularly near topographic barriers. In the southeast Badain Jaran Desert of China, the star dunes are up to 500 metres tall and may be the tallest dunes on Earth.


title: Dune

text: Oval or circular mounds that generally lack a slipface. Dome dunes are rare and occur at the far upwind margins of sand seas.


title: Dune

text: Fixed crescentic dunes that form on the leeward margins of playas and river valleys in arid and semiarid regions in response to the direction (s) of prevailing winds, are known as lunettes, source-bordering dunes, bourrelets and clay dunes. They may be composed of clay, silt, sand, or gypsum, eroded from the basin floor or shore, transported up the concave side of the dune, and deposited on the convex side. Examples in Australia are up to 6.5 km long, 1 km wide, and up to 50 metres high. They also occur in southern and West Africa, and in parts of the western United States, especially Texas.


title: Dune

text: U-shaped mounds of sand with convex noses trailed by elongated arms are parabolic dunes. These dunes are formed from blowout dunes where the erosion of vegetated sand leads to a U-shaped depression. The elongated arms are held in place by vegetation; the largest arm known on Earth reaches 12 km. Sometimes these dunes are called U-shaped, blowout, or hairpin dunes, and they are well known in coastal deserts. Unlike crescent shaped dunes, their crests point upwind. The bulk of the sand in the dune migrates forward.


title: Dune

text: In plan view, these are U-shaped or V-shaped mounds of well-sorted, very fine to medium sand with elongated arms that extend upwind behind the central part of the dune. There are slipfaces that often occur on the outer side of the nose and on the outer slopes of the arms.


title: Dune

text: These dunes often occur in semiarid areas where the precipitation is retained in the lower parts of the dune and underlying soils. The stability of the dunes was once attributed to the vegetative cover but recent research has pointed to water as the main source of parabolic dune stability. The vegetation that covers them—grasses, shrubs, and trees—help anchor the trailing arms. In inland deserts, parabolic dunes commonly originate and extend downwind from blowouts in sand sheets only partly anchored by vegetation. They can also originate from beach sands and extend inland into vegetated areas in coastal zones and on shores of large lakes.


title: Dune

text: Most parabolic dunes do not reach heights higher than a few tens of metres except at their nose, where vegetation stops or slows the advance of accumulating sand.


title: Dune

text: Simple parabolic dunes have only one set of arms that trail upwind, behind the leading nose. Compound parabolic dunes are coalesced features with several sets of trailing arms. Complex parabolic dunes include subsidiary superposed or coalesced forms, usually of barchanoid or linear shapes.


title: Dune

text: Parabolic dunes, like crescent dunes, occur in areas where very strong winds are mostly unidirectional. Although these dunes are found in areas now characterized by variable wind speeds, the effective winds associated with the growth and migration of both the parabolic and crescent dunes probably are the most consistent in wind direction.


title: Dune

text: The grain size for these well-sorted, very fine to medium sands is about 0.06 to 0.5 mm. Parabolic dunes have loose sand and steep slopes only on their outer flanks. The inner slopes are mostly well packed and anchored by vegetation, as are the corridors between individual dunes. Because all dune arms are oriented in the same direction, and, the inter-dune corridors are generally swept clear of loose sand, the corridors can usually be traversed in between the trailing arms of the dune. However to cross straight over the dune by going over the trailing arms, can be very difficult. Also, traversing the nose is very difficult as well because the nose is usually made up of loose sand without much if any vegetation.


title: Dune

text: A type of extensive parabolic dune that lacks discernible slipfaces and has mostly coarse grained sand is known as a "zibar". The term zibar comes from the Arabic word to describe "rolling transverse ridges ... with a hard surface". The dunes are small, have low relief, and can be found in many places across the planet from Wyoming (United States) to Saudi Arabia to Australia. Spacing between zibars ranges from 50 to 400 metres and they don't become more than 10 metres high. The dunes form at about ninety degrees to the prevailing wind which blows away the small, fine-grained sand leaving behind the coarser grained sand to form the crest.


title: Dune

text: Occurring wherever winds periodically reverse direction, reversing dunes are varieties of any of the above shapes. These dunes typically have major and minor slipfaces oriented in opposite directions. The minor slipfaces are usually temporary, as they appear after a reverse wind and are generally destroyed when the wind next blows in the dominant direction.


title: Dune

text: Draas are very large-scale dune bedforms; they may be tens or a few hundreds of metres in height, kilometres wide, and hundreds of kilometres in length. After a draa has reached a certain size, it generally develops superimposed dune forms. They are thought to be more ancient and slower-moving than smaller dunes, and to form by vertical growth of existing dunes. Draas are widespread in sand seas and are well-represented in the geological record.


title: Dune

text: All these dune shapes may occur in three forms: simple (isolated dunes of basic type), compound (larger dunes on which smaller dunes of same type form), and complex (combinations of different types). Simple dunes are basic forms with the minimum number of slipfaces that define the geometric type. Compound dunes are large dunes on which smaller dunes of similar type and slipface orientation are superimposed. Complex dunes are combinations of two or more dune types. A crescentic dune with a star dune superimposed on its crest is the most common complex dune. Simple dunes represent a wind regime that has not changed in intensity or direction since the formation of the dune, while compound and complex dunes suggest that the intensity and direction of the wind has changed.


title: Dune

text: The sand mass of dunes can move either windward or leeward, depending on if the wind is making contact with the dune from below or above its apogee. If wind hits from above, the sand particles move leeward; the leeward flux of sand is greater than the windward flux. Conversely, if sand hits from below, sand particles move windward. Further, if the wind is carrying sand particles when it hits the dune, the dune's sand particles will saltate more than if the wind had hit the dune without carrying sand particles.


title: Dune

text: Coastal dunes form when wet sand is deposited along the coast and dries out and is blown along the beach. Dunes form where the beach is wide enough to allow for the accumulation of wind-blown sand, and where prevailing onshore winds tend to blow sand inland. The three key ingredients for coastal dune formation are a large sand supply, winds to move said sand supply, and a place for the sand supply to accumulate. Obstacles—for example, vegetation, pebbles and so on—tend to slow down the wind and lead to the deposition of sand grains. These small "incipient dunes or "shadow dunes" tend to grow in the vertical direction if the obstacle slowing the wind can also grow vertically (i.e., vegetation). Coastal dunes expand laterally as a result of lateral growth of coastal plants via seed or rhizome. Models of coastal dunes suggest that their final equilibrium height is related to the distance between the water line and where vegetation can grow. Coastal dunes can be classified by where they develop, or begin to take shape. Dunes are commonly grouped into either the Primary Dune Group or the Secondary Dune Group. Primary dunes gain most of their sand from the beach itself, while secondary dunes gain their sand from the primary dune. Along the Florida Panhandle, most dunes are considered to be foredunes or hummocks. Different locations around the globe have dune formations unique to their given coastal profile.


title: Dune

text: Coastal sand dunes can provide privacy and/or habitats to support local flora and fauna. Animals such as sand snakes, lizards, and rodents can live in coastal sand dunes, along with insects of all types. Often the vegetation of sand dunes is discussed without acknowledging the importance that coastal dunes have for animals. Further, some animals, such as foxes and feral pigs can use coastal dunes as hunting grounds to find food. Birds are also known to utilize coastal dunes as nesting grounds. All these species find the coastal environment of the sand dune vital to their species' survival.


title: Dune

text: Over the course of time coastal dunes may be impacted by tropical cyclones or other intense storm activity, dependent on their location. Recent work has suggested that coastal dunes tend to evolve toward a high or low morphology depending on the growth rate of dunes relative to storm frequency. During a storm event, dunes play a significant role in minimizing wave energy as it moves onshore. As a result, coastal dunes, especially those in the foredune area affected by a storm surge, will retreat or erode. To counteract the damage from tropical activity on coastal dunes, short term post-storm efforts can be made by individual agencies through fencing to help with sand accumulation.


title: Dune

text: How much a dune erodes during any storm surge is related to its location on the coastal shoreline and the profile of the beach during a particular season. In those areas with harsher winter weather, during the summer a beach tends to take on more of a convex appearance due to gentler waves, while the same beach in the winter may take on more of a concave appearance. As a result, coastal dunes can get eroded much more quickly in the winter than in the summer. The converse is true in areas with harsher summer weather.


title: Dune

text: There are many threats to these coastal communities. Some coastal dunes, for example ones in San Francisco, have been completely altered by urbanization; reshaping the dune for human use. This puts native species at risk. Another danger, in California and places in the UK specifically, is the introduction of invasive species. Plant species, such as "Carpobrotus edulis", were introduced from South Africa in an attempt to stabilize the dunes and provide horticultural benefits, but instead spread taking land away from native species. "Ammophila arenaria", known as European beachgrass, has a similar story, though it has no horticulture benefits. It has great ground coverage and, as intended, stabilized the dunes but as an unintended side effect prevented native species from thriving in those dunes. One such example is the dune field at Point Reyes, California. There are now efforts to get rid of both of these invasive species.


title: Dune

text: As a dune forms, plant succession occurs. The conditions on an "embryo dune" are harsh, with salt spray from the sea carried on strong winds. The dune is well drained and often dry, and composed of calcium carbonate from seashells. Rotting seaweed, brought in by storm waves adds nutrients to allow pioneer species to colonize the dune. For example, in the United Kingdom these pioneer species are often marram grass, sea wort grass and other sea grasses. These plants are well adapted to the harsh conditions of the foredune, typically having deep roots which reach the water table, root nodules that produce nitrogen compounds, and protected stoma, reducing transpiration. Also, the deep roots bind the sand together, and the dune grows into a foredune as more sand is blown over the grasses. The grasses add nitrogen to the soil, meaning other, less hardy plants can then colonize the dunes. Typically these are heather, heaths and gorses. These too are adapted to the low soil water content and have small, prickly leaves which reduce transpiration. Heather adds humus to the soil and is usually replaced by coniferous trees, which can tolerate low soil pH, caused by the accumulation and decomposition of organic matter with nitrate leaching. Coniferous forests and heathland are common climax communities for sand dune systems.


title: Dune

text: Young dunes are called yellow dunes and dunes which have high humus content are called grey dunes. Leaching occurs on the dunes, washing humus into the slacks, and the slacks may be much more developed than the exposed tops of the dunes. It is usually in the slacks that more rare species are developed and there is a tendency for the dune slacks' soil to be waterlogged where only marsh plants can survive. In Europe these plants include: creeping willow, cotton grass, yellow iris, reeds, and rushes. As for vertebrates in European dunes, natterjack toads sometimes breed here.


title: Dune

text: Dune ecosystems are extremely difficult places for plants to survive. This is due to a number of pressures related to their proximity to the ocean and confinement to growth on sandy substrates. These include:


title: Dune

text: In deserts where large amounts of limestone mountains surround a closed basin, such as at White Sands National Park in south-central New Mexico, occasional storm runoff transports dissolved limestone and gypsum into a low-lying pan within the basin where the water evaporates, depositing the gypsum and forming crystals known as selenite. The crystals left behind by this process are eroded by the wind and deposited as vast white dune fields that resemble snow-covered landscapes. These types of dune are rare, and only form in closed arid basins that retain the highly soluble gypsum that would otherwise be washed into the sea.


title: Dune

text: A nabkha, or coppice dune, is a small dune anchored by vegetation. They usually indicate desertification or soil erosion, and serve as nesting and burrow sites for animals.


title: Dune

text: Sub-aqueous (underwater) dunes form on a bed of sand or gravel under the actions of water flow. They are ubiquitous in natural channels such as rivers and estuaries, and also form in engineered canals and pipelines. Dunes move downstream as the upstream slope is eroded and the sediment deposited on the downstream or lee slope in typical bedform construction. In the case of sub-aqueous barchan dunes, sediment is lost by their extremities, known as horns.


title: Dune

text: These dunes most often form as a continuous 'train' of dunes, showing remarkable similarity in wavelength and height. The shape of a dune gives information about its formation environment. For instance, rivers produce asymmetrical ripples, with the steeper slip face facing downstream. Ripple marks preserved in sedimentary strata in the geological record can be used to determine the direction of current flow, and thus an indication of the source of the sediments.


title: Dune

text: Dunes on the bed of a channel significantly increase flow resistance, their presence and growth playing a major part in river flooding.


title: Dune

text: A lithified (consolidated) sand dune is a type of sandstone that is formed when a marine or aeolian sand dune becomes compacted and hardened. Once in this form, water passing through the rock can carry and deposit minerals, which can alter the color of the rock. Cross-bedded layers of stacks of lithified dunes can produce the cross-hatching patterns, such as those seen in Zion National Park in the western United States.


title: Dune

text: A slang term, used in the southwest US, for consolidated and hardened sand dunes is "slickrock", a name that was introduced by pioneers of the Old West because their steel-rimmed wagon wheels could not gain traction on the rock.


title: Dune

text: Sand dunes can have a negative impact on humans when they encroach on human habitats. Sand dunes move via a few different means, all of them helped along by wind. One way that dunes can move is by saltation, where sand particles skip along the ground like a bouncing ball. When these skipping particles land, they may knock into other particles and cause them to move as well, in a process known as creep. With slightly stronger winds, particles collide in mid-air, causing sheet flows. In a major dust storm, dunes may move tens of metres through such sheet flows. Also as in the case of snow, sand avalanches, falling down the slipface of the dunes—that face away from the winds—also move the dunes forward.


title: Dune

text: Sand threatens buildings and crops in Africa, the Middle East, and China. Drenching sand dunes with oil stops their migration, but this approach uses a valuable resource and is quite destructive to the dunes' animal habitats. Sand fences might also slow their movement to a crawl, but geologists are still analyzing results for the optimum fence designs. Preventing sand dunes from overwhelming towns, villages, and agricultural areas has become a priority for the United Nations Environment Programme. Planting dunes with vegetation also helps to stabilise them.


title: Dune

text: Dune habitats provide niches for highly specialized plants and animals, including numerous rare species and some endangered species. Due to widespread human population expansion, dunes face destruction through land development and recreational usages, as well as alteration to prevent the encroachment of sand onto inhabited areas. Some countries, notably the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Sri Lanka have developed significant programs of dune protection through the use of sand dune stabilization. In the U.K., a Biodiversity Action Plan has been developed to assess dunes loss and to prevent future dunes destruction.


title: Dune

text: Dunes can likely be found in any environment where there is a substantial atmosphere, winds, and dust to be blown. Dunes are common on Mars and in the equatorial regions of Titan.


title: Dune

text: Titan's dunes include large expanses with modal lengths of about 20–30 km. The regions are not topographically confined, resembling sand seas. These dunes are interpreted to be longitudinal dunes whose crests are oriented parallel to the dominant wind direction, which generally indicates west-to-east wind flow. The sand is likely composed of hydrocarbon particles, possibly with some water ice mixed in.


title: Dune

text: Dunes are a popular theme in science fiction, featuring in depictions of dry Desert planets appearing as early as the 1956 film "Forbidden Planet" and Frank Herbert's 1965 novel "Dune". The environment of the desert planet Arrakis (also known as Dune) in the "Dune" franchise "Dune" in turn inspired the "Star Wars" franchise, which includes prominent theme of dunes on fictional planets such as Tatooine, Geonosis, and Jakku.


title: Astolfo

text: Astolfo (also Astolpho, Estous, and Estouls) is a fictional character in the Matter of France where he is one of Charlemagne's paladins. He is the son of Otto, the King of England (possibly referring to Charles' contemporary Offa of Mercia), and is a cousin to Orlando and Rinaldo, and a descendant of Charles Martel. While Astolfo's name appeared in the Old French "chanson de geste" "The Four Sons of Aymon", his first major appearance was in the anonymous early fourteenth-century Franco-Venetian epic poem "La Prise de Pampelune". He was subsequently a major character (typically humorous) in Italian Renaissance romance epics, such as "Morgante" by Luigi Pulci, "Orlando Innamorato" by Matteo Maria Boiardo, and "Orlando Furioso" by Ludovico Ariosto.


title: Astolfo

text: When first introduced, Duke Astolfo is trapped in the form of a myrtle tree by means of the evil sorceress Alcina's magic. When Ruggiero attempts to tether his hippogriff to the unlucky man, Astolfo protests, lamenting his fate. Although the two converse at length, Ruggiero does not heed the duke's advice to avoid Alcina and he soon becomes bewitched as well. Both are, however, rescued and returned to normal by Melissa, the good sorceress.


title: Astolfo

text: Astolfo possesses various magical equipment which he employs throughout his adventures. His magic lance can knock his opponents from their horses with the slightest touch, and his magic book contains spells capable of breaking any enchantment. He also owns a magic horn whose blast is so loud that it causes all enemies to flee in terror and rides upon a horse named Rabicano. This magical horse is made of hurricane and flame, feeds on air and it treads so lightly that it doesn't leave footprints in the sand, and when it runs at full speed it can run faster than an arrow.


title: Astolfo

text: Astolfo uses his magic horn to capture the giant Caligorante, and then parades the giant from town to town, forcing him to act as his beast of burden. He also defeats Orillo, a robber who could not be killed because he was enchanted to regenerate from any wounds he received. Even severed limbs would reattach themselves. Astolfo loans his golden lance and Rabicano to Bradamante for a short time while he rides the hippogriff in search of Orlando's lost wits.


title: Astolfo

text: Astolfo travels to Ethiopia where he met Senapo (Prester John), the emperor of that land. In a situation similar to the story of Phineus from Greek mythology, Senapo is blind and plagued by harpies who attack him whenever he tries to eat a meal, spilling the glasses and befouling the food. Astolfo blows his horn and chases the harpies through the entrance to Hell, and seals them inside. He flies the hippogriff to the summit of the mountain of Terrestrial Paradise, where he meets Saint John the Apostle, who explains how he could return Orlando to his senses. He flies in Elijah's flaming chariot to the moon, where all things lost upon the earth end up, and locates Orlando's wits in a bottle. He returns to earth and gains Senapo's aid in the defense of Paris from the Saracen invaders.


title: Astolfo

text: It derives from the Germanic name "Haistulf", a name composed of "haist" (of uncertain meaning, perhaps "furious", "violent") or perhaps "ast" ("rod", "spear"), and "vulf" ("wolf")


title: Astolfo

text: Astolfo is a major character in the Japanese television anime series "Fate/Apocrypha" as the Rider of the Black faction.


title: Astolfo

text: Astolfo appears in the video game "Fate/Grand Order" as a Rider (as in "Fate/Apocrypha", see above) and, later on, also as a Saber. His popularity as a character in the "Fate" media franchise was deemed to surpass the popularity of the original in modern times. This phenomenon was also observed for other characters in the "Fate" franchise in a study, which led the authors to name it the "Astolfo Effect".


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark (), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica (; ), is the cathedral church of the Catholic Patriarchate of Venice; it became the episcopal seat of the Patriarch of Venice in 1807, replacing the earlier cathedral of San Pietro di Castello. It is dedicated to and holds the relics of Saint Mark the Evangelist, the patron saint of the city.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The church is located on the eastern end of Saint Mark's Square, the former political and religious centre of the Republic of Venice, and is attached to the Doge's Palace. Prior to the fall of the republic in 1797, it was the chapel of the Doge and was subject to his jurisdiction, with the concurrence of the procurators of Saint Mark "de supra" for administrative and financial affairs.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The present structure is the third church, begun probably in 1063 to express Venice's growing civic consciousness and pride. Like the two earlier churches, its model was the sixth-century Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople, although accommodations were made to adapt the design to the limitations of the physical site and to meet the specific needs of Venetian state ceremonies. Middle-Byzantine, Romanesque, and Islamic influences are also evident, and Gothic elements were later incorporated. To convey the republic's wealth and power, the original brick façades and interior walls were embellished over time with precious stones and rare marbles, primarily in the thirteenth century. Many of the columns, reliefs, and sculptures were spoils stripped from the churches, palaces, and public monuments of Constantinople as a result of the Venetian participation in the Fourth Crusade. Among the plundered artefacts brought back to Venice were the four ancient bronze horses that were placed prominently over the entry.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The interior of the domes, the vaults, and the upper walls were slowly covered with gold-ground mosaics depicting saints, prophets, and biblical scenes. Many of these mosaics were later retouched or remade as artistic tastes changed and damaged mosaics had to be replaced, such that the mosaics represent eight hundred years of artistic styles. Some of them derive from traditional Byzantine representations and are masterworks of Medieval art; others are based on preparatory drawings made by prominent Renaissance artists from Venice and Florence, including Paolo Veronese, Tintoretto, Titian, Paolo Uccello, and Andrea del Castagno.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: Several medieval chronicles narrate the , the removal of Saint Mark's body from Alexandria in Egypt by two Venetian merchants and its transfer to Venice in 828/829. The Chronicon Venetum further recounts that the relics of Saint Mark were initially placed in a corner tower of the "castrum", the fortified residence of the Doge and seat of government located on the site of the present Doge's Palace. Doge Giustiniano Participazio () subsequently stipulated in his will that his widow and his younger brother and successor Giovanni () were to erect a church dedicated to Saint Mark wherein the relics would ultimately be housed. Giustiniano further specified that the new church was to be built between the "castrum" and the Church of Saint Theodore to the north. Construction of the new church may have actually been underway during Giustinian's lifetime and was completed by 836 when the relics of Saint Mark were transferred.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: Although the Participazio church was long believed to have been a rectangular structure with a single apse, soundings and excavations have demonstrated that St Mark's was from the beginning a cruciform church with at least a central dome, likely in wood. It has not been unequivocally established if each of the four crossarms of the church had a similar dome or were instead covered with gabled wooden roofs.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The prototype was the Church of the Holy Apostles (demolished 1461) in Constantinople. This radical break with the local architectural tradition of a rectangular plan in favour of a centrally planned Byzantine model reflected the growing commercial presence of Venetian merchants in the imperial capital as well as Venice's political ties with Byzantium. More importantly, it underscored that St Mark's was intended not as an ecclesiastical seat but as a state sanctuary.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: Remnants of the Participazio church likely survive and are generally believed to include the foundations and lower parts of several of the principal walls, including the western wall between the nave and the narthex. The great entry portal may also date to the early church as well as the western portion of the crypt, under the central dome, which seems to have served as the base for a raised dais upon which the original altar was located.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The Participazio church was severely damaged in 976 during the popular uprising against Doge Pietro IV Candiano () when the fire that angry crowds had set to drive the Doge from the "castrum" spread to the adjoining church. Although the structure was not completely destroyed, it was compromised to the point that the Concio, the general assembly, had to alternatively convene in the cathedral of San Pietro di Castello to elect Candiano's successor, Pietro I Orseolo (). Within two years, the church was repaired and at the sole expense of the Orseolo family, indications that the actual damage was relatively limited. Most likely, the wooden components had been consumed, but the walls and supports remained largely intact.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: Nothing certain is known of the appearance of the Orseolo church. But given the short duration of the reconstruction, it is probable that work was limited to repairing damage with little innovation. It was at this time, however, that the tomb of Saint Mark, located in the main apse, was surmounted with brick vaults, creating the semi-enclosed shrine that would later be incorporated into the crypt when the floor of the chancel was raised during the construction of the third church.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: Civic pride led many Italian cities in the mid-eleventh century to begin erecting or rebuilding their cathedrals on a grand scale. Venice was similarly interested in demonstrating its growing commercial wealth and power, and probably in 1063, under Doge Domenico I Contarini (), St Mark's was substantially rebuilt and enlarged to the extent that the resulting structure appeared entirely new.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The northern transept was lengthened, likely by incorporating the southern lateral nave of the Church of Saint Theodore. Similarly, the southern transept was extended, perhaps by integrating a corner tower of the "castrum". Most significantly, the wooden domes were rebuilt in brick. This required strengthening the walls and piers in order to support the new heavy barrel vaults, which in turn were reinforced by arcades along the sides of the northern, southern, and western crossarms. The vaults of the eastern crossarm were supported by inserting single arches that also served to divide the chancel from the choir chapels in the lateral apses.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: In front of the western façade, a narthex was built. To accommodate the height of the existing great entry, the vaulting system of the new narthex had to be interrupted in correspondence to the portal, thus creating the shaft above that was later opened to the interior of the church. The crypt was also enlarged to the east, and the high altar was moved from under the central dome to the chancel, which was raised, supported by a network of columns and vaults in the underlying crypt. By 1071, work had progressed far enough that the investiture of Doge Domenico Selvo () could take place in the unfinished church.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: Work on the interior began under Selvo who collected fine marbles and stones for the embellishment of the church and personally financed the mosaic decoration, hiring a master mosaicist from Constantinople. The Pala d'Oro (golden altarpiece), ordered from Constantinople in 1102, was installed on the high altar in 1105. For the consecration under Doge Vitale Falier Dodoni (), various dates are recorded, most likely reflecting a series of consecrations of different sections. The consecration on 8 October 1094 is considered to be the dedication of the church. On that day, the relics of Saint Mark were also placed into the new crypt.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: As built, the Contarini church was a severe brick structure. Adornment inside was limited to the columns of the arcades, the balusters and parapets of the galleries, and the lattice altar screens. The wall surfaces were decorated with moulded arches that alternated with engaged brickwork columns as well as niches and a few cornices. With the exception of the outside of the apse and the western façade that faced Saint Mark's Square, the stark brick exterior was enlivened only by receding concentric arches in contrasting brick around the windows.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The western façade, comparable to middle-Byzantine churches erected in the tenth and eleventh centuries, was characterized by a series of arches set between protruding pillars. The walls were pierced by windows set in larger blind arches, while the intervening pillars were adorned with niches and circular "patere" made of rare marbles and stones that were surrounded with ornamental frames. Other decorative details, including friezes and corbel tables, reflected Romanesque trends, an indication of the taste and craftsmanship of the Italian workers.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: With few exceptions, most notably the juncture of the southern and western crossarms, both the exterior and interior of the church were subsequently sheathed with revetments of marble and precious stones and enriched with columns, reliefs, and sculptures. Many of these ornamental elements were spolia taken from ancient or Byzantine buildings. Particularly in the period of the Latin Empire (1204–1261), following the Fourth Crusade, the Venetians pillaged the churches, palaces, and public monuments of Constantinople and stripped them of polychrome columns and stones. Once in Venice, some of the columns were sliced for revetmets and "patere"; others were paired and spread across the façades or used as altars. Despoliation continued in later centuries, notably during the Venetian–Genoese Wars. Venetian sculptors also integrated the spoils with local productions, copying the Byzantine capitals and friezes so effectively that some of their work can only be distinguished with difficulty from the originals.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: In addition to the sixteen windows in each of the five domes, the church was originally lit by three or seven windows in the apse and probably eight in each of the lunettes. But many of these windows were later walled up to create more surface space for the mosaic decoration, with the result that the interior received insufficient sunlight, particularly the areas under the galleries which remained in relative darkness. The galleries were consequently reduced to narrow walkways with the exception of the ends of the northern, southern, and western crossarms where they remain. These walkways maintain the original relief panels of the galleries on the side facing the central section of the church. On the opposite side, new balustrades were erected.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The narthex of the Contarini church was originally limited to the western side. As with other Byzantine churches, it extended laterally beyond the façade on both sides and terminated in niches, of which the northern remains. The southern terminus was separated by a wall in the early twelfth century, thus creating an entry hall that opened on the southern façade toward the Doge's Palace and the waterfront. In the early thirteenth century, the narthex was extended along the northern and southern sides to completely surround the western crossarm.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: Also, in the first half of the thirteenth century, the original low-lying brick domes, typical of Byzantine churches, were surmounted with higher, outer shells supporting bulbous lanterns with crosses. These wooden frames covered in lead provided more protection from weathering to the actual domes below and gave greater visual prominence to the church. Various Near-Eastern models have been suggested as sources of inspiration and construction techniques for the heightened domes, including the Al-Aqsa and Qubbat aṣ-Ṣakhra mosques in Jerusalem and the conical frame erected over the dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the early thirteenth century.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The three exposed façades result from a long and complex evolution. Particularly in the thirteenth century, the exterior appearance of the church was radically altered: the patterned marble encrustation was added, and a multitude of columns and sculptural elements was applied to enrich the state church. It is probable that structural elements were also added to the façades or modified.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The exterior of the basilica is divided into two registers. On the western façade, the lower register is dominated by five deeply recessed portals that alternate with large piers. The lower register was later completely covered with two tiers of precious columns, largely spoils from the Fourth Crusade.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: Consistent with Byzantine traditions, the sculptural elements are largely decorative: only in the arches that frame the doorways is there a functional use of sculpture that articulates the architectural lines. In addition to the reliefs in the spandrels, the sculpture at the lower level, relatively limited, includes narrow Romanesque bands, statues, and richly carved borders of foliage mixed with figures derived from Byzantine and Islamic traditions. The eastern influence is most pronounced in the tympana over the northern-most and southern-most portals.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The iconographic programme is expressed primarily in the mosaics in the lunettes. In the lower register, those of the lateral portals narrate the , the translation of Saint Mark's relics from Alexandria to Venice. From right to left, they show the removal of the saint's body from Egypt, its arrival in Venice, its veneration by the Doge, and its deposition in the church. This last mosaic is the only one on the façade that survives from the thirteenth century; the others were remade in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. The general appearance of the lost compositions is recorded in Gentile Bellini's "Procession in Piazza San Marco" (1496), which also documents the earlier gilding on the façade.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The upper register is enriched with an elaborate Gothic crowning, executed in the late-fourteenth/early-fifteenth centuries. The original lunettes, transformed into ogee arches, are outlined with foliage and topped with statues of four military saints over the lateral lunettes and of Saint Mark flanked by angels over the central lunette, the point of which contains the winged lion of Saint Mark holding a book with the angelic salutation of the : "Peace to you Mark, my Evangelist" (). The intervening aediculae with pinnacles house figures of the Four Evangelists and on the extremities, facing one another, the Virgin and the Archangel Gabriel in allusion to Venice's legendary foundation on the 25 March 421, the feast of the Annunciation.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: Culminating in the Last Judgment over the main portal, the sequence of mosaics in the lateral lunettes of the upper register present scenes of Christ's victory over death: from left to right, the Descent from the Cross, the Harrowing of Hell, the Resurrection, and the Ascension. The central lunette was originally blind and may have been pierced by several smaller windows; the present large window was inserted after the fire of 1419 destroyed the earlier structure. The reliefs of Christ and the Four Evangelists, now inserted into the northern façade, may also survive from the original decoration of the central lunette.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The four gilded bronze horses were among the early spoils brought from Constantinople after the Fourth Crusade. They were part of a quadriga adorning the Hippodrome and are the only equestrian team to survive from classical Antiquity. In the mid-thirteenth century, they were installed prominently on the main façade of St Mark's as symbols of Venice's military triumph over Byzantium and of its newfound imperial status as the successor of the Byzantine Empire. Since 1974 the original four horses are preserved inside, having been substituted with copies on the balcony over the central portal.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The aediculae on the northern façade contain statues of the four original Latin Doctors of the Church: Jerome, Augustine, Ambrose, and Gregory the Great. Allegorical figures of Prudence, Temperance, Faith, and Charity top the lunettes.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The Gothic crowning continues in the upper register of the southern façade, the lunettes being topped with the allegorical figures of Justice and Fortitude and the aediculae housing statues of Saint Anthony Abbot and Saint Paul the Hermit.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The southern façade is the most richly encrusted façade with rare marbles, spoils, and trophies, including the so-called pillars of Acre, the statue of the four tetrarchs embedded into the external wall of the treasury, and the porphyry imperial head on the south-west corner of the balcony, traditionally believed to represent Justinian II and popularly identified as Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: After a section of the narthex was partitioned off between 1100 and 1150 to create an entry hall, the niche that had previously marked the southern end of the narthex was removed, and the corresponding arch on the southern façade was opened to establish a second entry. Like the entry on the western façade, the passage was distinguished with precious porphyry columns. On either side, couchant lions and griffins were placed. Presumably, the southern entry was also flanked by the two carved pillars long believed to have been brought to Venice from the Genoese quarter in St Jean d'Acre as booty of the first Venetian–Genoese war (1256–1270) but actually spoils of the Fourth Crusade, taken from the Church of St Polyeuctus in Constantinople.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: Between 1503 and 1515, the entry hall was transformed into the funerary chapel of Giovanni Battista Cardinal Zen, bishop of Vicenza, who had bequeathed a large portion of his wealth to the Venetian Republic, asking to be entombed in St Mark's. The southern entrance was consequently closed, blocked by the altar and a window above, and although the griffins remain, much of the decoration was transferred or destroyed. The pillars were moved slightly eastward.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The decoration of the southern entry hall to the church was redone in the thirteenth century in conjunction with work in the adjoining narthex; of the original appearance of the entry hall, nothing is known. The present mosaic cycle in the barrel vault forms the prelude to the mosaic cycle on the main façade, which narrates the translation of Saint Mark's relics from Alexandria in Egypt to Venice. The events depicted include the , the angelic prophecy that Mark would one day be buried in Venice, which affirms Venice's divine right to possess the relics. The authority of Saint Mark is demonstrated in the scenes that show the writing of his Gospel which is then presented to Saint Peter. Particular relevance is also given to the departure of Saint Mark for Egypt and his miracles there, which creates continuity with the opening scene on the façade, depicting the removal of the body from Alexandria.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: Although largely redone in the nineteenth century, the apse above the doorway that leads into the narthex probably maintains the overall aspect of the decoration from the first half of the twelfth century with the Virgin flanked by angels, a theme common in middle-Byzantine churches.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: Although St Mark's was modelled after the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople, ceremonial needs and limitations posed by the pre-existing walls and foundations made it necessary to adapt the design. The cruciform plan with five domes was maintained. But the Holy Apostles was a true centrally planned church: the central dome, larger than the others, was alone pierced with windows, and the altar was located underneath. There was no distinction between the four crossarms: no apse existed and double-tiered arcades surrounded the interior on all sides. In contrast, the longitudinal axis was emphasized to create a space appropriate for processions associated with state ceremonies. Both the central and western domes are larger, accentuating the progression along the nave, and by means of a series of increasingly smaller arches, the nave visually narrows towards the raised chancel in the eastern crossarm, where the altar stands. The crossarms of the transept are shorter and narrower. Optically, their height and width are further reduced by the insertion of arches, supported on double columns within the barrel vaults. The domes of the transept and the chancel are also smaller.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: As with the Holy Apostles, each dome rests on four barrel vaults, those of the central dome rising from quadripartite (four-legged) piers. But the two-tiered arcades that reinforced the vaults in the Holy Apostles were modified. In St Mark's there are no upper arcades, and as a result the aisles are less isolated from the central part of the church. The effect is of more unified sense of space and an openness that have parallels in other Byzantine churches constructed in the eleventh century, an indication that the chief architect was influenced by middle-Byzantine architectural models in addition to the sixth-century Church of the Holy Apostles.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The chancel is enclosed by a Gothic altar screen, dated 1394. It is surmounted by a bronze and silver Crucifix, flanked by statues of the Virgin and Saint Mark, together with the Twelve Apostles. On the left of the screen is the ambo for readings from Scripture, while the on the right is the platform from which the newly elected Doge was presented to the people.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: Behind, marble banisters mark the limit of the choir, which after the reorganization by Doge Andrea Gritti () was utilized by the Doge, civic leaders, and foreign ambassadors. Prior to the sixteenth century, the Doge's throne was located near the choir chapel of Saint Clement I, whose doorway opened to the courtyard of the Doge's Palace. The chapel was reserved for the Doge's private use. From the window above, which communicates with his private apartments, it was also possible for the Doge to assist at mass in the church.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The tribunes on either side of the chancel are faced with bronze reliefs that portray events in the life of Saint Mark and his miracles. Beyond the banisters is the presbytery, reserved for the clergy, with the high altar which since 1835 contains the relics of Saint Mark, previously located in the crypt. The ciborium above the altar is supported by four intricately carved columns with scenes that narrate the lives of Christ and the Virgin. The age and provenance of the columns is disputed, with proposals ranging from sixth-century Byzantium to thirteenth-century Venice. The altarpiece, originally designed as an antependium, is the Pala d'Oro, a masterpiece of Byzantine enamels on gilded silver.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The two choir chapels, located on either side of the chancel, occupy the space corresponding to the lateral aisles in the other crossarms. They are connected to the chancel through archways which also serve to reinforce the barrel vaults supporting the dome above.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The choir chapel on the northern side is dedicated to Saint Peter. Historically, it was the principal area for the clergy. The mosaic decoration in the vaults above the chapels largely narrates the life of Saint Mark, including the events of the . They constitute the oldest surviving representation of the transfer of Saint Mark's relics to Venice.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The side altars in the transept were used primarily by the faithful. In the northern crossarm, the altar was originally dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist: the mosaics in the dome above show the aged figure of Saint John, surrounded by five scenes of his life in Ephesus. The stone relief of Saint John, placed on the eastern wall of the crossarm in the thirteenth century, was later moved to the northern façade of the church, probably when the altar was rededicated in 1617 to the Madonna Nicopeia, a venerated Byzantine icon from the late-eleventh/early-twelfth century.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The date and the circumstances of the icon's arrival in Venice are not documented. Most likely one of many sacred images taken from Constantinople at the time of the Latin Empire, it was deposited in St Mark's treasury, with no specific importance associated. It began to acquire significance for the Venetians in the fourteenth century when it was framed with Byzantine enamels looted from the Pantokrator in Contantinople. At that time, it may have been first carried in public procession to invoke the Virgin's intercession in ridding the city of the Black Death. The icon acquired a political role as the palladium of Venice in the sixteenth century when it came to be identified as the sacred image that had been carried into battle by various Byzantine emperors. In 1589, the icon was transferred to the small Chapel of Saint Isidore where it was made accessible to the public, and subsequently it was placed on the side altar in the northern crossarm. It was first referred to as the Madonna Nicopeia ("Nikopoios", Bringer of Victory) in 1645.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The altar in the southern crossarm was initially dedicated to Saint Leonard, the sixth-century Frankish saint who became widely popular at the time of the Crusades as his intercession was sought to liberate prisoners from the Muslims. He is shown in the dome above, together with other saints particularly venerated in Venice: Blaise, Nicholas, and Clement I. The altar was rededicated in 1617 to the True Cross, and since 1810, it has been the Altar of the Blessed Sacrament.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The long-neglected relics of Saint Isidore of Chios, brought to Venice in 1125 by Doge Domenico Michiel () on return from his military expedition in the Aegean, were rediscovered in the mid-fourteenth century, and upon the initiative of Doge Andrea Dandolo (), the Chapel of Saint Isidore was constructed between 1348 and 1355 to house them. An annual feast (16 April) was also established in the Venetian liturgical calendar.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The Mascoli Chapel, utilized by the homonymous confraternity after 1618, was decorated under Doge Francesco Foscari () and dedicated in 1430.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: Against the piers that support the central dome, on either side of the chancel, Doge Cristoforo Moro () erected at his personal expense two altars dedicated to Saint Paul and Saint James. The pier behind the Altar of Saint James is where the relics of Saint Mark are said to have been rediscovered in 1094: the miraculous event is depicted in the mosaics on the opposite side of the crossarm.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The date of construction of the baptistery is not known, but it is likely to have been under Doge Giovanni Soranzo (), whose tomb is located in the baptistery, an indication that he was responsible for the architectural adaptation. Similarly entombed in the baptistery is Doge Andrea Dandolo who carried out the decorative programme at his personal expense. The mosaics present scenes from the life of Saint John the Baptist on the walls and, in the ante-baptistery, the infancy of Christ. Directly above the bronze font, designed by Sansovino, the dome contains the dispersion of the Apostles, each shown in the act of baptizing a different nationality in reference to Christ's command to preach the Gospel to all people. The second dome, above the altar, presents Christ in glory surrounded by the nine angelic choirs. The altar is a large granite rock, which according to tradition was brought to Venice from Tyre following the Venetian conquest. It is said to be the rock upon which Christ stood to preach to the people of Tyre.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: In 1486, Giorgio Spavento, as "proto" (consultant architect and buildings manager), designed a new sacristy, connected to both the presbytery and the choir chapel of Saint Peter; the location of the earlier sacristy is not known. It was Spavento's first project and the only one he oversaw to completion. Decoration began in 1493. The cabinets, used for storing reliquaries, monstrances, vestments, and liturgical objects and books, were inlaid by Antonio della Mola and his brother Paolo and show scenes from the life of Saint Mark. The mosaic decoration of the vault, depicting Old-Testament prophets, was designed by Titian and executed between 1524 and 1530.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: Behind the sacristy is the church, also by Spavento, dedicated to Saint Theodore, the first patron saint of Venice. Constructed between 1486 and 1493 in an austere Renaissance style, it served as the private chapel for the canons of the basilica and, later, as the seat of the Venetian Inquisition.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: As the state church, St Mark's was a point of reference for Venetian architects. Its influence during the Gothic period seems to have been limited to decorative patterns and details, such as the portal and painted wall decoration in the Church of Santo Stefano and the portal of the Church of the Madonna dell'Orto, consisting of an ogee arch with flame-like relief sculture reminiscent of the crockets on St Mark's.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: In the early Renaissance, despite the introduction of classical elements into Venetian architecture by Lombard stonecutters, faithfulness to local building traditions remained strong. In the façades of Ca' Dario and the Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, surface decoration in emulation of St Mark's is the principal characteristic, and the overall effect derives from the rich encrustration of shimmering coloured marbles and the circular patterns, derived from the basilica. Similarly, the Foscari Arch in the courtyard of the Doge's Palace is based on ancient triumphal arches but owes its detailing to the basilica: the superimposed columns clustered together, the Gothic pinnacles, and the crowning statuary. At the Scuola Grande di San Marco, the reference to St Mark's is made in the series of lunettes along the roofline which recalls the profile of the basilica.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The location of the main altar within the apse necessarily affected the decorative programme. The Christ Pantocrator, customarily located in the central dome over the altar, was placed in the semi-dome of the apse. Below, interspersed with three windows, are late-eleventh and early-twelfth-century mosaics that portray Saint Nicholas of Myra, Saint Peter, Saint Mark, and Saint Hermagoras of Aquileia as the protectors and patrons of the state, Saint Nicholas being specifically the protector of seafarers.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: Over the high altar in the eastern crossarm is the Dome of Immanuel (God with us). It presents a young Christ in the centre, surrounded by stars. Radially arranged underneath are standing figures of the Virgin and Old-Testament prophets, the latter bearing scrolls with passages that largely refer to the Incarnation. Rather than seraphim as was customary in middle-Byzantine churches, the pendentives of the dome show the symbols of the Four Evangelists.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: An extensive cycle narrating the Life of Christ covers much of the interior, with the principal events located along the longitudinal axis. The eastern vault, between the central dome and the chancel, contains the major events of the infancy (Annunciation, Adoration of the Magi, Presentation in the Temple) along with the Baptism of Christ and the Transfiguration. The western vault depicts the events of the Passion of Jesus on one side (the kiss of Judas, the trial before Pilate, and the Crucifixion) and the Resurrection on the other side (the Harrowing of Hell and the post-resurrection appearances). A secondary series illustrating Christ's miracles is located in the transepts. The series seems to have derived from an eleventh-century Byzantine Gospel. The transepts also contain a detailed cycle of the Life of the Virgin: these scenes were probably derived from an eleventh-century illuminated manuscript of the Protogospel of James from Constantinople. As a prelude, a Tree of Jesse showing the ancestors of Christ was added to the end wall of the northern crossarm between 1542 and 1551. Throughout the various narrative cycles, Old-Testament prophets are portrayed holding texts that relate to the New-Testament scenes nearby.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The Dome of the Ascension occupies the central position, whereas in the Church of the Holy Apostles it was located over the southern crossarm. The dome, executed in the late twelfth century, is exemplary of middle-Byzantine prototypes in Constantinople. In the centre Christ ascends, accompanied by four angels and surrounded by standing figures of the Virgin, two angels, and the Twelve Apostles. As customary for the central dome in middle-Byzantine churches, the pendentives contain the Four Evangelists, each with his gospel.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: As in the Church of the Holy Apostles, the Dome of Pentecost is located over the western crossarm. In the centre is an hetoimasia, an empty throne with a book and dove. Radiating outward are silver rays which fall on the heads of the Apostles seated around the outer rim of the dome, each with a flame on his head. In keeping with Pentecost, as the institution of the Church, the side vaults and walls of the western crossarm largely illustrate the subsequent missionary activities of the Apostles and their deaths as martyrs. The specific events in the lives of the various Apostles and the manner of their deaths adhere to Western traditions, as narrated in Latin martyrologies that derive in part from the Book of Acts but to a greater extent from apocryphal sources. However, the single representations and the overall concept of presenting the lives of the saints in a composition that combines several events together in one scene have their parallels in Greek manuscript illustrations of the middle-Byzantine period.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The western vault illustrates Saint John's vision of the Apocalypse and the Last Judgement. On the wall below there is a thirteenth-century deesis with Christ enthroned between the Virgin and Saint Mark.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The decorative programme of the western and northern wings of the narthex seems to have been planned in its entirety in the thirteenth century when the eleventh-century narthex was extended along the northern and southern sides of the western crossarm. However, a stylistic change in the mosaics is evident in the northern wing, indicating that the execution of the programme was interrupted, presumably to await the completion of the vaulting system.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: Unlike in middle-Byzantine churches where the theme of the Last Judgement is often represented in the narthex, the decorative programme narrates the stories of Genesis and Exodus: the main subjects are the Creation and the Tower of Babel along with the lives of Noah, Abraham, Joseph, and Moses. Special emphasis is given to the stories of the sacrifice of Abel and the hospitality of Abraham, located prominently in the lunettes on either side of the entry to the church, due to the analogies with Christ's death and the Eucharistic meal.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: It has long been recognized that the individual scenes are very close to those of the Cotton Genesis, an important fourth or fifth-century Greek illuminated manuscript copy of the Book of Genesis: about a hundred of the 359 miniatures in the manuscript were used. Of Egyptian origin, the manuscript may have reached Venice as a result of the commercial relations of the Venetians in the Eastern Mediterranean or as booty of the Fourth Crusade. The sixth-century Vienna Genesis was also in Venice in the early thirteenth century and may have influenced artistic choices. With regard to the Dome of Moses, the scenes most closely resemble Palaeologan art, suggesting an unknown manuscript from the third quarter of the thirteenth century as the iconographic source.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: While the Byzantine renderings of the Old-Testament stories in illuminated manuscripts provided suitable models, Byzantine churches themselves did not generally give importance to the Old Testament in their decoration, considering the stories to be shadows of the history of salvation, inferior to the reality of the New Testament. The impetus for the Venetians to choose the Old Testament as the theme of the narthex was instead of western derivation and reflected an interest that had developed in Rome beginning in the late eleventh century.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The narration begins in correspondence to the former southern entry of the church with the Dome of the Creation, which opens with the spirit of God hovering above the waters and concludes with Adam and Eve cast out from the Garden of Eden. As in the Cotton Genesis, Christ is portrayed as the agent of creation. Underneath, the pendentives contain cherubim, the guardians of Eden, and the lunettes illustrate the story of Cain and Abel. The stories of Noah and of the Tower of Babel with the confusion of tongues and the dispertion of the nations occupy the vaults on either side of the entry to the church. The story of Abraham, from the calling of the patriarch to the circumcision of Isaac, is narrated in a single dome and the two lunettes underneath, whereas the story of Joseph, the most extensive, occupies the next three domes. The story of Moses, until the Crossing of the Red Sea, is limited to the final bay.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The oldest mosaics in St Mark's, located in the niches of the entry porch in the narthex, may date to as early as 1070. Although Byzantine in style, they are somewhat antiquated with respect to contemporary trends in Byzantium. Most likely, they were executed by mosaicists who had left Constantinople in the mid-eleventh century to work on the cathedral of Torcello and then remained in the local area. More modern but still archaic in style are the figures in the main apse which were done in the late-eleventh and early-twelfth centuries.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The most important period of decoration was the twelfth century when Venice's relations with Byzantium alternated between political tensions that limited artistic influence from the East and moments of intense trade and cooperation that favoured the Venetians' awareness of eastern prototypes as well as the influx of Byzantine mosaicists and materials. The three figures in the Dome of Immanuel that date to the first quarter of the century (Jeremiah, Hosea, and Habakkuk) are the work of highly skilled mosaicists, likely Greek-trained. They demonstrate the greater classicism and realism of middle-Byzantine painting in Constantinople but also local trends in the harsher and broken lines. In succeeding phases of work in the choir chapels and the transept, Byzantine miniatures were copied more or less faithfully for the mosaics, but any eastern influence that could reflect the latest artistic developments in Constantinople is hardly traceable. A new and direct awareness of artistic developments in Constantinople is indicated in the Dome of Pentecost, executed sometime in the first half of the twelfth century.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: In the last third of the twelfth century, a large portion of the mosaics in the Dome of Immanuel and the entirety of the Dome of the Ascension and of several vaults in the western crossarm had to be completely redone in consequence of a catastrophic event, the nature and date of which are not known. Local influence is evident. But the more vigorous poses, agitated draperies, expressiveness, and heightened contrast show the partial assimilation of the developing dynamic style in Constantinople. The mosaics in the Dome of the Ascension and those depicting the Passion in the nearby vault represent the maturity of the Venetian mosaic school and are one of the great achievements of Medieval art.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: After the removal of the galleries, the mosaic decoration was extended onto the lower walls, beginning in the thirteenth century. The first mosaic, depicting the Agony in the Garden, represents a synthesizing of various traditions, both eastern and western. Traces remain of the complicated patterns of the late Komnenian period. But the statuesque quality of the figures, which are also more rounded, reflect contemporary developments in Byzantine art such as can be seen at Studenica Monastery. Concurrently, an elegance associated with western Gothic appears and is fused with the Byzantine traditions. The Gothic influence becomes more pronounced in later mosaics of the period with patterned backgrounds that derive from the stained-glass windows in French churches.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The interior mosaics were apparently complete by the 1270s, with work on the narthex continuing into the 1290s. Although some activity must have still been underway in 1308 when the Great Council allowed a glass furnace on Murano to produce mosaic material for St Mark's during the summer, by 1419 no competent mosaicist remained to repair the extensive damage to the main apse and western dome caused by a fire that year. The Venetian government had to consequently seek assistance from the Signoria of Florence which sent Paolo Uccello. Other Florentine artists, including Andrea del Castagno, were also active in St Mark's in the mid-fifteenth century, introducing a sense of perspective largely achieved with architectural settings. In this same period, Michele Giambono executed mosaics.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: By the time a new fire in 1439 made repairs once again necessary, a number of Venetian mosaicists had been trained. Some of the replacement mosaics they created show a Florentine influence; others reflect Renaissance developments in the detailing and the modelling of the figures. But overall the replacement mosaics in this period closely imitated the design of the damaged works and were intended to look medieval.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: Efforts to maintain the stylistic integrity of the medieval works whenever repairs and restorations became necessary were largely abandoned in the sixteenth century. Often in the absence of any need to restore mosaics but under the sole pretense of replacing old mosaics with Renaissance and Mannerist ones, renowned artists such as Titian, Tintoretto, Paolo Veronese, Giuseppe Salviati, Palma Giovane increasingly competed for work in the church, preparing preliminary sketches for 'modern' mosaics, considered artistically superior, with little attempt to stylistically integrate the new figures and scenes into the older compositions.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: In addition to damage from fire and earthquake as well as from the vibrations that resulted whenever cannon were fired in salute from ships in the lagoon, the normal decay of the underlying masonry made it necessary to repeatedly repair the mosaics. In 1716, Leopoldo dal Pozzo, a mosaicist from Rome, was commissioned to assume responsibility for the repair and maintenance of the mosaics in St Mark's, the local craftsmen having once again largely died out. Dal Pozzo also executed a few new mosaics based on preliminary drawings by Giovanni Battista Piazzetta and Sebastiano Ricci. An exclusive contract for restoration was stipulated in 1867 with the mosaic workshop run by the Salviati glassmaking firm, whose highly criticized restoration work often involved removing and resetting the mosaics, usually with a considerable loss of quality. Although the original iconographic programme has been largely preserved, despite centuries of restoration and renewal, and roughly three-fourths of the mosaics maintain their earlier compositions and styles, only about a third can be considered original.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: The floor, executed primarily in "opus sectile" and to a lesser extent in "opus tessellatum", dates to either the late eleventh century or first half of the twelfth century. It consists of geometric patterns and animal designs made from a wide variety of coloured limestones and marbles. The animals represented, including lions, eagles, griffons, deer, dogs, peacocks, and others, largely derive from medieval bestiaries and have symbolic meanings.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: Although it has similarities with Romanesque floors, the inclusion of large slabs of marble surrounded with decorative cornices also suggests an influence from eastern prototypes. The frequent use of intertwined circles also recalls medieval Italian cosmatesque floors.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: Under the Venetian Republic, St Mark's was the private chapel of the Doge. The , responsible for the religious functions, was nominated by the Doge personally, and despite several attempts by the Bishop of Olivolo/Castello (after 1451 Patriarch of Venice) to claim jurisdiction over St Mark's, the remained subject to the Doge alone.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: Beginning in the ninth century, the Doge also nominated a procurator , responsible for the financial administration of the church, its upkeep, and its decoration. By the mid-thirteenth century there were two procurators in charge of the church, denominated . Elected by the Great Council, they supervised the church , limiting the authority of the Doge. In 1442, there were three procurators who administered the church and its treasury. The procurators also hired and paid the "proto", directly responsible for overseeing construction, maintenance, and restoration.


title: St Mark's Basilica

text: St Mark's ceased to be the private chapel of the Doge as a result of the fall of the Republic of Venice to the French in 1797, and the was required to take an oath of office under the provisional municipal government. At that time, plans began to transfer the seat of the Patriarch of Venice from San Pietro di Castello to St Mark's. However, no action was taken before Venice passed under Austrian control in 1798. During the first period of Austrian rule (1798–1805), it was alternatively suggested that the episcopal seat be moved to the Church of San Salvador, but again no action was taken until 1807 when, during the second period of French domination (1805–1814), St Mark's became the patriarchal cathedral. The new status was confirmed by Emperor Francis I of Austria in 1816 during the second period of Austrian rule (1814–1866) and by Pope Pius VII in 1821.


title: Populus

text: Populus is a genus of 25–30 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar (), aspen, and cottonwood.


title: Populus

text: The western balsam poplar ("P. trichocarpa") was the first tree to have its full DNA code determined by DNA sequencing, in 2006.


title: Populus

text: The bark on young trees is smooth, white to greenish or dark gray, and often has conspicuous lenticels; on old trees, it remains smooth in some species, but becomes rough and deeply fissured in others. The shoots are stout, with (unlike in the related willows) the terminal bud present. The leaves are spirally arranged, and vary in shape from triangular to circular or (rarely) lobed, and with a long petiole; in species in the sections "Populus" and "Aigeiros", the petioles are laterally flattened, so that breezes easily cause the leaves to wobble back and forth, giving the whole tree a "twinkling" appearance in a breeze. Leaf size is very variable even on a single tree, typically with small leaves on side shoots, and very large leaves on strong-growing lead shoots. The leaves often turn bright gold to yellow before they fall during autumn.


title: Populus

text: The flowers are mostly dioecious (rarely monoecious) and appear in early spring before the leaves. They are borne in long, drooping, sessile or pedunculate catkins produced from buds formed in the axils of the leaves from the previous year. The flowers are each seated in a cup-shaped disk which is borne on the base of a scale which is itself attached to the rachis of the catkin. The scales are obovate, lobed, and fringed, membranous, hairy or smooth, and usually caducous. The male flowers are without calyx or corolla, and comprise a group of four to 60 stamens inserted on a disk; filaments are short and pale yellow; anthers are oblong, purple or red, introrse, and two-celled; the cells open longitudinally. The female flower also has no calyx or corolla, and comprises a single-celled ovary seated in a cup-shaped disk. The style is short, with two to four stigmata, variously lobed, and numerous ovules. Pollination is by wind, with the female catkins lengthening considerably between pollination and maturity. The fruit is a two- to four-valved dehiscent capsule, green to reddish-brown, mature in midsummer, containing numerous minute light brown seeds surrounded by tufts of long, soft, white hairs aiding wind dispersal.


title: Populus

text: The genus "Populus" has traditionally been divided into six sections on the basis of leaf and flower characters; this classification is followed below. Recent genetic studies have largely supported this, confirming some previously suspected reticulate evolution due to past hybridisation and introgression events between the groups. Some species (noted below) had differing relationships indicated by their nuclear DNA (paternally inherited) and chloroplast DNA sequences (maternally inherited), a clear indication of likely hybrid origin. Hybridisation continues to be common in the genus, with several hybrids between species in different sections known. There are currently 57 accepted species in the genus.


title: Populus

text: The oldest easily identifiable fossil of this genus belongs to "Poplus wilmattae", and comes from the Late Paleocene of North America about 58 million years ago.


title: Populus

text: Poplars of the cottonwood section are often wetlands or riparian trees. The aspens are among the most important boreal broadleaf trees.


title: Populus

text: Poplars and aspens are important food plants for the larvae of a large number of Lepidoptera species. "Pleurotus populinus", the aspen oyster mushroom, is found exclusively on dead wood of "Populus" trees in North America.


title: Populus

text: Several species of "Populus" in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe have experienced heavy dieback; this is thought in part to be due to "Sesia apiformis" which bores into the trunk of the tree during its larval stage.


title: Populus

text: Many poplars are grown as ornamental trees, with numerous cultivars used. They have the advantage of growing to a very large size at a rapid pace. Almost all poplars take root readily from cuttings or where broken branches lie on the ground (they also often have remarkable suckering abilities, and can form huge colonies from a single original tree, such as the famous "Pando" forest made of thousands of "Populus tremuloides" clones).


title: Populus

text: Trees with fastigiate (erect, columnar) branching are particularly popular, and are widely grown across Europe and southwest Asia. However, like willows, poplars have very vigorous and invasive root systems stretching up to from the trees; planting close to houses or ceramic water pipes may result in damaged foundations and cracked walls and pipes due to their search for moisture.


title: Populus

text: A simple, reproducible, high-frequency micropropagation protocol in eastern cottonwood "Populus deltoides" has been reported by Yadav et al. 2009.


title: Populus

text: In India, the poplar is grown commercially by farmers, mainly in the Punjab region. Common poplar varieties are:


title: Populus

text: The trees are grown from "kalam" or cuttings, harvested annually in January and February, and commercially available up to 15November.


title: Populus

text: Most commonly used to make plywood, Yamuna Nagar in Haryana state has a large plywood industry reliant upon poplar. It is graded according to sizes known as "over" (over ), "under" (), and "sokta" (less than ).


title: Populus

text: Although the wood from "Populus" is known as poplar wood, a common high-quality hardwood "poplar" with a greenish colour is actually from an unrelated genus "Liriodendron". "Populus" wood is a lighter, more porous material.


title: Populus

text: Its flexibility and close grain make it suitable for a number of applications, similar to those of willow. The Greeks and Etruscans made shields of poplar, and Pliny the Elder also recommended poplar for this purpose. Poplar continued to be used for shield construction through the Middle Ages and was renowned for a durability similar to that of oak, but with a substantial reduction in weight.


title: Populus

text: In addition to the foliage and other parts of "Populus" species being consumed by animals, the starchy sap layer (underneath the outer bark) is edible to humans, both raw and cooked.


title: Populus

text: In Pakistan, poplar is grown on a commercial level by farmers in Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provinces. However, all varieties are seriously susceptible to termite attack, causing significant losses to poplar every year. Logs of poplar are therefore also used as bait in termite traps for biocontrol of termites in crops.


title: Populus

text: Interest exists in using poplar as an energy crop for biomass, in energy forestry systems, particularly in light of its high energy-in to energy-out ratio, large carbon mitigation potential, and fast growth.


title: Populus

text: In the United Kingdom, poplar (as with fellow energy crop willow) is typically grown in a short rotation coppice system for two to five years (with single or multiple stems), then harvested and burned - the yield of some varieties can be as high as 12 oven-dry tonnes per hectare every year.


title: Populus

text: In warmer regions like Italy this crop can produce up to 13.8, 16.4 oven-dry tonnes of biomass per hectare every year for biannual and triennial cutting cycles also showing a positive energy balance and a high energy efficiency.


title: Populus

text: Biofuel is another option for using poplar as bioenergy supply. In the United States, scientists studied converting short rotation coppice poplar into sugars for biofuel (e.g. ethanol) production.


title: Populus

text: Considering the relative cheap price, the process of making biofuel from SRC can be economically feasible, although the conversion yield from short rotation coppice (as juvenile crops) were lower than regular mature wood. Besides biochemical conversion, thermochemical conversion (e.g. fast pyrolysis) was also studied for making biofuel from short rotation coppice poplar and was found to have higher energy recovery than that from bioconversion.


title: Populus

text: Poplar was the most common wood used in Italy for panel paintings; the "Mona Lisa" and most famous early Italian Renaissance paintings are on poplar. The wood is generally white, often with a slightly yellowish colour.


title: Populus

text: Some stringed instruments are made with one-piece poplar backs; violas made in this fashion are said to have a particularly resonant tone. Similarly, though typically it is considered to have a less attractive grain than the traditional sitka spruce, poplar is beginning to be targeted by some harp luthiers as a sustainable and even superior alternative for their sound boards: in these cases another hardwood veneer is sometimes applied to the resonant poplar base both for cosmetic reasons, and supposedly to fine-tune the acoustic properties.


title: Populus

text: Lombardy poplars are frequently used as a windbreak around agricultural fields to protect against wind erosion.


title: Populus

text: Poplar represents a suitable candidate for phytoremediation. This plant has been successfully used to target many types of pollutants including trace element (TEs) in soil and sewage sludge, Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCBs), Trichloroethylene (TCE), Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAHs).


title: Populus

text: Two notable poems in English lament the cutting down of poplars, William Cowper's "The Poplar Field" and Gerard Manley Hopkins' "Binsey Poplars felled 1879".


title: Populus

text: In Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit", she sings "Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze/Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees…".


title: Populus

text: The Odd Poplars Alley, in Iași, Romania, is one of the spots where Mihai Eminescu sought inspiration in his works (the poem "Down Where the Lonely Poplars Grow"). In 1973, the 15 white poplars still left (with age ranges between 233 and 371 years) were declared natural monuments.


The 1868 United States presidential election was the 21st quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 1868. In the first election of the Reconstruction Era, Republican nominee Ulysses S. Grant defeated Horatio Seymour of the Democratic Party. It was the first presidential election to take place after the conclusion of the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery. It was the first election in which African Americans could vote in the reconstructed Southern states, in accordance with the First Reconstruction Act.


title: 1868 United States presidential election

text: Incumbent president Andrew Johnson had succeeded to the presidency in 1865 following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, a Republican. Johnson, a War Democrat from Tennessee, had served as Lincoln's running mate in 1864 on the National Union ticket, which was designed to attract Republicans and War Democrats. Upon accession to office, Johnson clashed with the Republican Congress over Reconstruction policies and was impeached and nearly removed from office. Johnson received some support for another term at the 1868 Democratic National Convention, but, after several ballots, the convention nominated Seymour, who had formerly served as Governor of New York. The 1868 Republican National Convention unanimously nominated Grant, who had been the highest-ranking Union general at the end of the Civil War. The Democrats criticized the Republican Reconstruction policies, and "campaigned explicitly on an anti-black, pro-white platform," while Republicans campaigned on Grant's popularity and the Union victory in the Civil War.


text: Grant decisively won the electoral vote, but his margin was narrower in the popular vote. In addition to his appeal in the North, Grant benefited from votes among the newly enfranchised freedmen in the South, while the temporary political disfranchisement of many Southern whites helped Republican margins. As three of the former Confederate states (Texas, Mississippi, and Virginia) were not yet restored to the Union, their electors could not vote in the election.


text: Reconstruction and civil rights of former slaves was a hotly debated issue in the Union. Grant supported the Reconstruction plans of the Radical Republicans in Congress, which favored the 14th Amendment, with full citizenship and civil rights for freedmen, including manhood suffrage. The Democratic platform condemned "Negro supremacy" and demanded a restoration of states' rights, including the right of southern states to determine for themselves whether to allow suffrage for adult freedmen. Republicans charged that Democrats were determined to deny any freedman the vote, regardless of fitness. Democrats charged that Republicans wanted to give all freedmen the vote, regardless of fitness.


text: By 1868, the Republicans felt strong enough to drop the Union Party label, but wanted to nominate a popular hero for their presidential candidate. The Democratic Party controlled many large Northern states that had a great percentage of the electoral votes. General Ulysses S. Grant announced he was a Republican and was unanimously nominated on the first ballot as the party's standard-bearer at the Republican convention in Chicago, held on May 20–21, 1868. House Speaker Schuyler Colfax, a Radical Republican from Indiana, was nominated for vice president on the sixth ballot, beating out the early favorite, Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio.


text: The Republican platform supported black suffrage in the South as part of the passage to full citizenship for former slaves. It agreed to let northern states decide individually whether to enfranchise blacks. It opposed using greenbacks to redeem U.S. bonds, encouraged immigration, endorsed full rights for naturalized citizens, and favored Radical Reconstruction as distinct from the more lenient policy of President Andrew Johnson.


text: The Democratic National Convention was held in New York City on July 4–9, 1868. The front-runner in the early balloting was George H. Pendleton (1864 Democratic vice presidential nominee), who led on the first 15 ballots, followed in varying order by President Johnson, Winfield Scott Hancock, Sanford Church, Asa Packer, Joel Parker, James E. English, James Rood Doolittle, and Thomas A. Hendricks. The unpopular Johnson, having narrowly survived impeachment, won 65 votes on the first ballot, less than one-third of the total necessary for nomination, and thus lost his bid for election as president in his own right.


text: Meanwhile, the convention chairman Horatio Seymour, former governor of New York, received nine votes on the fourth ballot from the state of North Carolina. This unexpected move caused "loud and enthusiastic cheering," but Seymour refused, saying,


text: By the seventh ballot Pendleton and Hendricks had emerged as the two front-runners, with Hancock the only other candidate with much support by this point. After numerous indecisive ballots, the names of John T. Hoffman, Francis P. Blair, and Stephen Johnson Field were placed in nomination, but none of these candidates gained substantial support.


text: For 21 ballots, the opposing candidates battled it out: the East battling the West for control, the conservatives battling the radicals. Pendleton's support collapsed after the 15th ballot, but went to Hancock rather than Hendricks, leaving the convention still deadlocked. The two leading candidates were determined that the other should not receive the presidential nomination; because of the two-thirds rule of the convention, a compromise candidate was needed. Seymour still hoped it would be Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, but on the 22nd ballot, the chairman of the Ohio delegation announced, "at the unanimous request and demand of the delegation I place Horatio Seymour in nomination with 21 votes—against his inclination, but no longer against his honor."


text: Seymour had to wait for the rousing cheers to die down before he could address the delegates and decline.


text: Seymour left the platform to cool off and rest. No sooner had he left the hall than the Ohio chairman cried that his delegation would not accept Seymour's declination; Utah's chairman rose to say that Seymour was the man they had to have. While Seymour was waiting in the vestibule, the convention nominated him for president unanimously.


text: Exhausted, the delegates unanimously nominated General Francis Preston Blair, Jr., for vice president on the first ballot after John A. McClernand, Augustus C. Dodge, and Thomas Ewing, Jr., withdrew their names from consideration. Blair's nomination reflected a desire to balance the ticket east and west as well as north and south.


text: Blair had worked hard for the Democratic vice presidential nomination and accepted second place on the ticket, finding himself in controversy. He had gained attention for an inflammatory letter addressed to Colonel James O. Broadhead, dated a few days before the convention met, in which he wrote that the "real and only issue in this contest was the overthrow of Reconstruction, as the radical Republicans had forced it in the South."


text: The 1868 campaign of Horatio Seymour versus Ulysses S. Grant was conducted vigorously, being fought out largely on the question of how Reconstruction should be conducted.


text: Grant's antisemitic General Order No. 11 during the Civil War became a campaign issue. This phenomenon is represented in a powerful cartoon by Bernhard Gillam. In the comic, Grant is depicted in crocodile skin and crying tears that fall onto the  words "Jewish vote 1884." Additionally, he is sitting in front of a bill on the wall stating, "Order No. 11 by U.S. Grant, 1862, excluding Jews from the army." Gillam comments on this and writes at the bottom of the cartoon, "Oh, now you weep, and I perceive you feel the dint of pity. These are Gracious Drops."


text: He apologized in a letter for the controversial order, stating "I have no prejudice against sect or race, but want each individual to be judged by his own merit. Order No. 11 does not sustain this statement, I admit, but then I do not sustain that order. It would never have been issued if it had not been telegraphed the moment it was penned and without reflection." In his army days he had traded at a local store operated by the Seligman brothers, two Jewish merchants who became Grant's lifelong friends. They became wealthy bankers who donated substantially to Grant's presidential campaign.


text: Grant took no part in the campaign and made no promises. The Republican campaign theme, "Let us have peace," was taken from his letter of acceptance. After four years of civil war, three years of wrangling over Reconstruction, and the attempted impeachment of a president, the nation craved the peace Grant pledged to achieve.


text: Seymour answered none of the charges made against him, but made a few key speeches. Some newspapers exaggerated his faults. As governor, Seymour had sent troops to Gettysburg, but some press tried to portray him as disloyal to the Union. The "New York Tribune" led the cartoon campaign with the picture of Seymour standing on the steps of the City Hall calling a mob of New York draft rioters "my friends." The "Hartford Post" called him "almost as much of a corpse" as ex-President James Buchanan, who had just died. Additionally, Republicans alleged that insanity ran through the Seymour family, citing as evidence the suicide of his father.


text: Blair went on a national speaking tour in which he framed the contest with Ulysses S. Grant and the pro-Reconstruction Republicans in stark racial terms, warning of the rule of "a semi-barbarous race of blacks who are worshipers of fetishes and poligamists" and wanted to "subject the white women to their unbridled lust." Republicans advised Americans not to vote for Seymour, as Blair might succeed him.


text: Blair had a reputation for outspokenness and his campaign speeches in 1868 attacked Radical Republicans. Samuel J. Tilden, a member of the national committee, asked Blair to confine his campaigning to Missouri and Illinois for fear he "would hurt the ticket" because of his stance on Reconstruction.


text: Seymour, who had not taken an active role in the campaign to this point, went into the canvass, seeking to steer the campaign away from the harshness of Blair's attacks on Radical Reconstruction. Seymour emphasized his idea that change in the South should be accomplished at the state level, without national interference. The Democrats campaigned for immediate restoration of all states, the "regulation of the elective franchise in the states by their citizens", and amnesty for past political offenses, while State civil authority should take precedence over military action. The president and the Supreme Court should be respected rather than attacked, as he claimed the Republicans had done. The Democrats would be careful to reorder national priorities.


text: The closeness of the popular vote surprised the political elite at the time. Republican Representative James G. Blaine called the slender popular majority for Grant "a very startling fact." Blaine, an acute judge of popular sentiment, was at a loss to explain the size of the Democratic vote. Ethnic Irish Catholic and other immigrants had been settling in New York for nearly a quarter century. The narrow margins by which Seymour lost several of the northern states like Indiana, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, and the effects of new black votes in the South provoked the suspicion that a majority of white men voted for Seymour.


text: Democrats did not fare well in the South, where newly freed African Americans voted in large numbers. Republicans carried every southern state except Georgia and Louisiana, where Ku Klux Klan and Knights of the White Camelia violence and fraud gave Democrats majorities.


text: Along the border, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware went overwhelmingly Democratic, in Kentucky's case influenced by hostility toward the Radical Reconstructionists, which had led to the state's first postwar government being almost entirely composed of former Confederates. No Democratic presidential candidate before or since has attained a higher percentage of the vote in Kentucky or Maryland, where hostility toward black suffrage was very widespread. As for Delaware, only the Democratic tickets of Johnson/Humphrey in 1964 (which was elected with the largest percentage of the popular vote since 1824) and Obama/Biden in 2008 (which had the first Delawarean on a national ticket) carried the state with a larger percentage of the vote.