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Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was an Italian opera composer, who was known for his long-flowing melodic lines for which he was named 'the Swan of Catania'.
The Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, usually just called the Frari, is a church located in the Campo dei Frari at the heart of the San Polo district of Venice, Italy.<br/><br/> In 1231, under Doge Jacopo Tiepolo, the city donated land at this site to establish a monastery and church belonging to the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor. This edifice proved too small and a three nave church was begun in 1250, and not completed until 1338. Work almost immediately began on its much larger replacement, the current church, which took over a century to build.
The Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, usually just called the Frari, is a church located in the Campo dei Frari at the heart of the San Polo district of Venice, Italy.<br/><br/> In 1231, under Doge Jacopo Tiepolo, the city donated land at this site to establish a monastery and church belonging to the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor. This edifice proved too small and a three nave church was begun in 1250, and not completed until 1338. Work almost immediately began on its much larger replacement, the current church, which took over a century to build.
Gentile Bellini (c. 1429 – 23 February 1507) was an Italian painter of the school of Venice. He came from Venice's leading family of painters, and at least in the early part of his career was more highly regarded than his younger brother Giovanni Bellini, the reverse of the case today.<br/><br/> Now housed at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, this painting reflects Bellini’s passion for Eastern cultures. Originally commissioned by Fatih Sultan Mehmet II in 1479 to go to Constantinople to paint portraits of the sultan for two years, the Venetian painter was strongly influenced by Ottoman traditions and fashions.
Oriental carpets more than two centuries old have rarely survived and are rarely represented in Islamic Art since Sunni Islam (and to a lesser extent Shia) eschews representational art in favour of precisely the repetetive geometric symbols and arabesques found, for example, in oriental carpets.<br/><br/> This means that most examples of 17th century and earlier oriental carpets, mainly produced in Muslim lands, are only to be found in paintings from Christian lands where rich oriental carpets were associated with wealth, power and taste.<br/><br/> Such carpets featured as an important decorative feature in paintings from the 14th century onwards, leading to the dichotomy that there are more depictions of oriental carpets produced before the 17th century in European paintings than there are actual oriental carpets surviving from the same period.<br/><br/> Because of this European paintings have proved an invaluable source of reference for the study of the history of carpetmaking and carpets.
Giovanni Mocenigo (1409 – September 14, 1485), Pietro Mocenigo's brother, was doge of Venice from 1478 to 1485. He fought at sea against the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II and on land against Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, from whom he recaptured Rovigo and the Polesine. He was interred in the Basilica di Santi Giovanni e Paolo, a traditional burial place of the doges.
Leonardo Loredan (or Loredano) (November 16, 1436 – June 21, 1521) was the doge of the Republic of Venice from 1501 until his death, in the course of the War of the League of Cambrai. Upon the death of Pope Alexander VI in 1503, Venice occupied several territories in the northern Papal States. When Julius II was elected as Alexander's eventual successor, the Venetians expected their seizure of papal territory to be tacitly accepted, as Julius had been nicknamed Il Veneziano for his pro-Venetian sympathies. But instead the new Pope excommunicated the Republic and united the Papal States in an alliance with France, the Holy Roman Empire and several other Christian states.<br/><br/> The Doge's problems did not end in Europe. In 1509, the Battle of Diu took place, in India, where the Portuguese fleet defeated an Ottoman and Mameluk fleet, which had been transferred from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea with Venetian help. The defeat marked the end of the profitable Spice trade, which was bought by Venetians from the Mameluks in Egypt and in turn monopolised its sale in Europe, reaping great revenues from it.<br/><br/> After losing to the league's forces at the Battle of Agnadello, Venice found her holdings in Italy shrinking exponentially. Soon Padua, Venice's most strategically vital Terra Firma holding, had fallen, and Venice herself was threatened. Loredan united the population, calling for sacrifice and total mobilisation. Padua was retaken, though Venice was still forced to accept a reluctant peace, following which it joined the Pope as only a junior ally in his new war against the French. When the Pope betrayed Venice once again, upon the verge of victory over France, Venice retaliated by aligning themselves with the French King Louis XII and were able to secure back all the territories they had lost. In addition, the Papacy was forced to repay man.outstanding debts to the Loredan family totaling approximately 500,000 Ducats.
Mehmed II (March 30, 1432 – May 3, 1481) or, in modern Turkish, Sultan Mehmet Fatih; known as Mahomet or Mohammed II in early modern Europe) was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1444 to September 1446, and later from February 1451 to 1481. At the age of 21, he conquered Constantinople, now Istanbul, bringing an end to the Byzantine Empire.<br/><br/> Sultan Mehmet Fatih seized power in Constantinople in 1471. He commissioned the painter Bellini to travel in 1479 from Venice to the Turkish capital to paint portraits for two years.<br/><br/> For centuries Venice was Europe’s prime trading partner with the Middle East and the Byzantine Empire in particular. Venetian naval and commercial power was unrivalled in Europe until it lost a series of wars to the Ottoman armies in the 15th century.
Now housed at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, this painting reflects Bellini’s passion for Eastern cultures. Originally commissioned by Fatih Sultan Mehmet II in 1479 to go to Constantinople to paint portraits of the sultan for two years, the Venetian painter was strongly influenced by Ottoman traditions and fashions.
Mehmed II (March 30, 1432 – May 3, 1481) or, in modern Turkish, Sultan Mehmet Fatih; known as Mahomet or Mohammed II in early modern Europe) was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1444 to September 1446, and later from February 1451 to 1481. At the age of 21, he conquered Constantinople, now Istanbul, bringing an end to the Byzantine Empire.<br/><br/>Sultan Mehmet Fatih seized power in Constantinople in 1471. He commissioned the painter Bellini to travel in 1479 from Venice to the Turkish capital to paint portraits for two years.<br/><br/>For centuries Venice was Europe’s prime trading partner with the Middle East and the Byzantine Empire in particular. Venetian naval and commercial power was unrivalled in Europe until it lost a series of wars to the Ottoman armies in the 15th century.
Mehmed II (March 30, 1432 – May 3, 1481) or, in modern Turkish, Sultan Mehmet Fatih; known as Mahomet or Mohammed II in early modern Europe) was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1444 to September 1446, and later from February 1451 to 1481. At the age of 21, he conquered Constantinople, now Istanbul, bringing an end to the Byzantine Empire.<br/><br/> Sultan Mehmet Fatih seized power in Constantinople in 1471. He commissioned the painter Bellini to travel in 1479 from Venice to the Turkish capital to paint portraits for two years.<br/><br/> For centuries Venice was Europe’s prime trading partner with the Middle East and the Byzantine Empire in particular. Venetian naval and commercial power was unrivalled in Europe until it lost a series of wars to the Ottoman armies in the 15th century.