In the year 1204 an alliance of western European crusaders, led by the Venetians, was en route to liberate the Holy Land from the grip of the Muslims. Having stopped in Constantinople the crusading armies, encouraged by Doge Enrico Dandolo of Venice, decided that the capital of the Byzantine Empire offered a more profitable target. They proceeded to loot the city. Galley’s full of stolen icons, metal, sculptures, and innumerable other objects, were taken to Venice. Such material is called spolia, as in the spoils of war. Many reliefs were cemented into the facades of the church of San Marco. This is a detail of one of the fine sculptures on San Marco’s north facade, where most of the reliefs were placed. It once decorated a church in Constantinople.