Description of San Marco

Synopsis

This is the first translation into English of Michel Butor's Description de San Marco which was published in French in 1963. This important work describes and deciphers the hidden significance of Saint Mark's in Venice by means of analogical structures based upon three juxtaposed visual models consisting of the mosaics and architectural forms of the Basilica, the history of Venice, and the chatter of the tourists. Form and content are perfectly fused in this extraordinary illustration of a monument.