Sermon of St. Mark in Alexandria

I feel that this painting is very effective. This is because it takes a religious sermon and makes it very grand and complicated. We can see that Saint Mark is very prominent in the painting due to his placement. This means we know he is the main religious figure of the piece. There are a large amount of people in the piece making us feel like something important is taking place in history. The combination of a religious theme with detailed people makes me interested in this painting. There is variety in clothing, facial expressions and positioning which means we can see there are lots of different cultures in the crowd. The dramatic architecture makes us feel like something amazing is happening. The architecture in the background is very interesting. It contains elements of venetian and eastern mediterranean architecture. This has created a fictional version of Alexandria. The connection between the two Bellini's is important. This painting was originally commissioned by Gentile however was completed by Giovanni. This makes it an important example of collaboration. This painting can be seen as a statement about culture, power and spreading Christianity. The fact that there are many different communities surrounding Saint Mark shows they wanted to spread the religious message. This painting also shows us how artists in the renaissance used architecture, clothing and history to show the political aspirations of their society. Overall this painting is very effective at combining religious themes with culture and drama to create an incredible piece.