Procession in Renaissance Venice: Effect of Ritual Procession on the Built Environment and the Citizens of Venice

Abstract

For Venetians, the miraculous rediscovery of Saint Mark’s body brought not only the reestablishment of a bond between the city and the Saint, but also a bond between the city’s residents, both by way of ritual procession. After his body’s recovery from Alexandria in 828 AD, Saint Mark’s influence on Venice became evident in the renaming of sacred and political spaces and rising participation in ritual processions by all citizens. Venetian society embraced Saint Mark as a cause for a fresh start, especially during the Renaissance period; a new style of architecture was established to better suit the extravagance of ritual processions celebrating the Saint. Saint Mark soon displaced all other saints as Venice’s symbol of independence and unity.