In Gentile Bellini’s painting “The Sermon of St. Mark in Alexandria” one can feel the solemn, almost theatrical presentation of the religious plot. In the center is Saint Mark, facing the crowd: his gesture and position in the composition immediately set the direction of the gaze. It’s as if he is not just speaking, but revealing to people the meaning of what is happening, and there is a feeling of inner conviction in this, which the artist conveys through the confident plasticity of the figures.
The Alexandrian scene is shown with attention to detail and environment: the architecture and urban environment help to feel the specificity of the place, rather than the abstractness of the “miracle”. At the same time, Bellini’s crowd is heterogeneous - faces and poses convey different reactions: some listen with interest, some are surprised, some doubt. This variety makes the scene feel alive and compelling rather than static.
The combination of solemnity and human spontaneity makes the work especially expressive: the spiritual moment here is not divorced from life, but is woven into it.
The painting presents a sermon by a Christian evangelic to a heterogenous crowd of people (Jews, Turks and Women) who are conflicted by the sermon. Some are entertained and engaged by the contents of the divine revelations that St. Mark seeks to bestow upon the people of the Mediterranean coast, while others keep to their business, giving us a sense of realism for the supposed encounter. The representation of camels and Giraffe on the far background suggests the bustling nature of the seaport and the cosmopolitan spirit of the city. Behind the central figure and the crowds we see a imposing architectural monument that is imaginatively overlayed on the artwork painted, as a semblance to Basilica of San Marco. The painting seeks to convey the message of Evangelicals roaming across the breadth of Europe for proselytization.
