Approaching renaissance religions

[Excerpt] The illustrative miniatures which adorn the cover of this volume, and the painting from which they are excised (see Fig. l.l), could well be claimed to preside over the volume's content. Commissioned from Gentile Bellini by the Scuola di San Marco in 1504 and destined to be hung above and behind where the confraternity leadership presided over meetings, this large-scale canvas panel of nearly twenty-seven square metres envisages the conversion of Alexandria to Christianity by the preaching of St Mark.' To today's informed viewer, the panoramic and imaginative re-creation of Alexandria draws together recognizably Eastern elements (minarets, camel, giraffe) as well as pointedly Venetian features, including the Temple that projects features of temple, mosque, and Venice's own basilica of San Marco. The members of the confraternity of San Marco stand in orderly array behind the saint, with Venetian bystanders mingling amongst the Mamluk Egyptians before the saint. While reminiscent of earlier paintings of preaching scenes, Bellini's image, in keeping with Venetian history pain ting, reflects the expansion of the world by the early sixteenth century.