This thesis explores the question of the patronage of the thirteenth-century Trade Reliefs of San Marco in Venice, and it connects their production less to the artisans and traders they depict than to the Procuratori de supra San Marco, the governmental officials who organised the running of building and improvement work at the Basilica of San Marco and in the Piazza and Piazzetta by way of active connections to trade and commerce. Drawing upon archival research and historical and iconographical analysis, I argue that the considerations underlying the creation of the Trade Reliefs were deeply rooted in the political state trajectory during and surrounding their production.