Wellhead

myminifactory

Wellheads not only safeguarded the mouth of a well but also provided an opportunity for public declarations of loyalty. The cross under an arch announces allegiance to Christ and the Byzantine Empire. Venice at this time was nominally under the control of the Byzantine emperor, although in practice it was independent. A cylindrical marble well-head with an oblong block features a shaft excavated through it. Four faces are decorated: one with a cross in an arch surrounded by interlaced ornament; stylised acanthus leaves on another; interlacing with flowers and rosettes on the third face; and a cross in a rectangle surrounded by interlacing on the fourth. The surface is rubbed and chipped, and face 2 has been pierced near the top. A small fragment of iron is present in face 1 possibly from a stanchion. Despite being surrounded by water, fresh water was historically scarce for Venetians. The need to store and supply drinking water in the city led to numerous wells, possibly exceeding six thousand. These water sources required protection at the surface to avoid pollution of the supply. Initially, archaeological finds served as well-heads; cisterns were protected by extending the well shaft upward and away from the ground while allowing access to the water beneath. The various forms that emerged during the development of purpose-made Venetian well-heads owe a great deal to their archaeological and architectural origins. The earliest surviving purpose-made Venetian well-heads date from the seventh century and take the form of a hollow cube. Cylindrical well-heads followed, developing in the late seventh to early eighth centuries. Many relief sculptures roughly datable to the ninth century, which have survived in Venice, are dominated by one single decorative pattern: a large cross set beneath an honorific arch and flanked by stylized leaves. This design can be found throughout Italy but only in Venice does it achieve dominance. It is seen on numerous fragments re-used in the decoration of St Marco, the cathedral and church of S. Fosca on the island of Torcello, and of SS. Maria e Donato on Murano. The motif of the foliate or "leaved cross," set beneath an arch, is well-documented in Christian art, particularly in medieval Byzantium. This iconography has been extensively analyzed by Ernst Kitzinger and others who have suggested that the "Life-giving cross" derives in part from the reference to the Tree of Life set in the middle of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9); bowing leaves found on some examples may reflect the apocryphal story of the great tree at Hermopolis, which bent to the ground to worship the infant Jesus; and the arch represents an important signifier of honor and reverence due to the object it encloses. John Osborne has proposed that the emblem has an apotropaic quality, intended to preserve the purity of the water in the cistern and hence the health of the public who drank it. He attaches a political significance to the motif, noting that well-heads represent a form of non-ecclesiastical public display on which statements of allegiance could be made. The early years of the ninth century found Venice politically divided, with pro-Frankish and pro-Byzantine parties vying for supremacy. The Annales Regni Francorum record violent hostilities in 810 when Venetian settlements were captured and sacked by Pepin, Frankish king of Italy and son of Charlemagne. Pepin was seen off by the arrival of the Byzantine fleet commanded by Paul Strategos of Cephalonia, and in the peace treaty that followed, Charlemagne recognized Byzantine suzerainty over the provinces of Venetia and Istria and abandoned his previous claims. From this point onwards, the Emperor in Constantinople was regarded as the guardian of Venetian fortunes, and the cross under arch, a symbol of Imperial authority and the triumph of the Christian Byzantine state, was used as a visual expression of Venetian political affinity.