Detail van de San Marco in Venetië before 1885

Carl Heinrich Jacobi captured this detail of San Marco in Venice using photography in the 19th century. The photograph’s composition is structured by a stark contrast between light and shadow, dividing the architecture. Jacobi frames carved stone panels, each featuring distinct religious symbols. The composition, with its horizontal emphasis and division into defined sections, mirrors structuralist principles of order and classification. The formal structure is immediately apparent, but it also invites us to consider the deeper semiotic implications of these signs. How do these symbols function within the architectural and cultural context of Venice? Notice how the interplay of light and shadow softens the rigid geometry, creating a dynamic tension. This photograph isn't simply a record, but an interpretation. The very act of framing these details elevates them, prompting us to decode the underlying structures of meaning within a historical and aesthetic framework.