The Venetian Marble: Artistically Extravagant

My first stop in Barcelona during my Europe trip saw some really stylish mosaics and tile-pastiche works by Gaudi, their vigorous colours and eccentric patterns brimmed with imagination and vitality (and playfulness).

However……

Only when I stepped into the Basillica di San Marco did I really feel at awe: on the ground, the finest marbles in various shapes, each of them distinctive and carries its own beauty, were collaged in a sublime and majestic manner – the purpose of which is not to be eye-catching or startling, yet to be subtle and refined - , embodying an aesthetic that belongs to a highly civilized and artistically extravagant (meaning, at once: extravagant in artistic accomplishment, and an extravagance that is artistic) culture.

No photos allowed and my memory is thus fixed to this postcard that I bought from there. It stays in my heart, very dearly. (The fact is, you have the see the real thing to feel its charm).

(click for a larger image)