Gentile Bellini

Gentile Bellini was a Venetian painter in the late 15th century and an early champion of Orientalist painting. After Sultan Mehmed II conquered the Byzantine Empire and established Istanbul as the center of the Ottoman Empire, he requested a Venetian artist for his court for one year. The Venetian government sent Bellini, which helped establish peace between the two states. His stint in Istanbul ignited an interest in other former Byzantine regions like North Africa and Greece. After returning to Venice, Bellini painted romanticized images of Eastern culture and incorporated both Byzantine and Ottoman visual sensibilities into his work. He painted several canvases once housed in the Doge’s Palace that were destroyed in the 16th century. This loss to his oeuvre makes exact tracings of Bellini’s work and trajectory difficult to assess.