Art › Venice › St Mark’s Basilica
The Pala d’Oro
The golden altarpiece of St Mark’s, made over four centuries from Byzantine enamels and gems.
The doge Pietro Orseolo ordered the first one from Constantinople in 976. It was enlarged in 1105, again in 1209 with enamels looted from Constantinople by the crusaders in 1204, and given its Gothic gold frame by the goldsmith Giovanni Paolo Boninsegna in 1345.
About 250 enamels of Christ, saints and prophets sit in it among almost two thousand pearls and gemstones. It stands behind the high altar, over the tomb of St Mark himself, and on feast days it is turned round to face the church. Stand before it in 3D ›
