Tapestries with stories in the St Mark's Basilica Museum in Venice

From ancient times in Venice there has been the tradition to decorate the churches during Holy Week, with fabrics, brocades and carpets.

St Mark's Basilica being the chapel of the Doge: during Holy Week the presbytery of the Basilica was decorated with four tapestries representing the Passion of Christ, made by Arras in Flanders on the model of the painter Nicolò di Pietro in 1408. Tapestries of the Passion of Christ are one of the rarest and oldest surviving stained glass tapestries, woven within the textile tradition Western. There are four large tapestries 2 metres high which, have an extension of about 25 meters, with narrated stories of the trial and the sentencing to death of Jesus, in ten great scenes initialed on the edges by a lion, symbol of St. Mark. The style is very Nordic and typical of German influence, recognizable in both scenes and deliberately synthetic representation by a very severe.

Restored in the 90s by Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence, Tapestries of Passion can be seen in all their glory in the Baroque Banqueting Hall, once used by the Doges for their parties, and now part of the St Mark's Basiclica Museum.

The splendid St Mark's Basilica Museum, and the Banquet Hall which houses the extraordinary tapestries described above, are included in our tour of St Mark's Basilica Museum. Book your tour and admire these exceptional creations! The tour is available from 1 April to 31 October, at 10am and at 1.45pm, from Tuesday to Saturday.