" All that St. Mark's is
to Venice, Hagia Sophia was to Constantinople. But St. Mark's, though
enriched with some of the spoils of its great original, is, as to its
interior at least, a feeble copy. Hagia Sophia justified its founder
in declaring, "I have surpassed thee, O Solomon!" and during seven
centuries after Justinian his successors had each attempted to add to
its wealth and its decoration. Yet this, incomparably the most
beautiful church in Christendom, at the opening of the thirteenth
century was stripped and plundered of every ornament which could be
carried away. It appeared to the indignant Greeks that the very stones
would be torn from the walls by these intruders, to whom nothing was
sacred.
Around the Great Church were other objects which could be readily
converted into bronze, and the destruction of which was irreparable.
The immense hippodrome was crowded with statues. Egypt had furnished
an obelisk for the centre, Delphi had given its commemoratory bronze
of the victory of Plataea. Later works of pagan sculptors were there in
abundance, while Christian artists had continued the traditions of
their ancestors.
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