Pala d'Oro

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Pala d’Oro (literally, "Golden Pall") is a high altar retable of the Basilica di San Marco in Venice. It is universally recognized as one of the most refined and accomplished works of Byzantine craftsmanship.

The altarpiece consists of two parts. The lower part, with enamels illustrating the story of Saint Mark, the doge's portrait, and the Pantocrator group, originated as an antependium commissioned by the doge Ordelaffo Falieri to the finest craftsmen of Constantinople in 1102. On the other hand, the image of Archangel Michael and the whole upper third are supposed to have been looted by the Crusaders in Constantinople in 1204.

In 1343, the doge Andrea Dandolo ordered both parts to be joined within a single Gothic framework featuring as many as 1,927 gems. The pala (from "palla", the Latin word for "cloth") was to be covered by Paolo Veneziano's wooden altarpiece and opened to the astonished public during liturgies only. In the 15th century, Veneziano's "exterior" altarpiece was replaced by a wooden panel which subsists today.