The earliest mosaics in the 11th and 12th centuries that depicted scenes from the life of St. Mark and the translation of his relics decorated the vaults and walls of both cantoria or Choir Chapels. These chapels are the Chapel of San Pietro located on right of the main apse and the Chapel of San Clemente located on the left of the main apse. These two chapels form an iconographic and stylistic unit.[1] The Chapel of San Pietro and its iconography as Demus describes belongs to the church, whereas the Chapel of San Clemente’s decoration and iconography connects the chapel to the Doge and Venetian state.[2] The narrative of the mosaics in the San Pietro chapel represents the “prehistory” of the church of Venice.[3] These narratives included in the Chapel of San Clemente depict the translation of St. Mark’s relics. Both narratives are located in the upper vaults and walls of the chapels. The mosaics have been damaged by multiple restoration campaigns that started as early as the 14th century. The largest campaign was between 1867 and 1880 when the mosaics were first removed then reattached to the walls of the chapels.[4]
