DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51584#0186
182 EARLY ITALIAN PAINTERS.
combats and victories on the Adriatic, the recon-
ciliation of the Emperor with Pope Alexander III.
in the Place of St. Mark, when Frederic held the
stirrup of the pope’s mule; the Doge Ziani re-
ceiving from the pope the gold ring with which he
espoused the Adriatic in token of perpetual do-
minion over it; and other memorable scenes dear
to the pride and patriotism of the Venetians.
These were painted in fourteen compartments
round the hall. What remains to us of the works
of the two brothers renders it a subject of lasting
regret that these frescoes, and others still more
valuable, were destroyed by fire in 1577.
In 1452 Constantinople was taken by the Turks,
an event which threw the whole of Christendom
into consternation, not unmixed with shame. The
Venetians were the first to resume their commercial
relations with the Levant; they sent an embassy to
the Turkish sultan to treat for the redemption of
the Christian prisoners and negotiate a peace. This
was happily concluded in 1454, under the auspices
of the Doge, old Francesco Foscari.* It was on
this occasion that the Sultan Mohammed II.,
having seen some Venetian pictures, desired that
the Venetian government would send him one of
their painters. The Council of Ten, after some de-
* The story of the two Foscari is the subject of a tragedy
by Lord Byron. The taking of Constantinople is the subject
of one of the most beautiful tragedies of Joanna Baillie.
combats and victories on the Adriatic, the recon-
ciliation of the Emperor with Pope Alexander III.
in the Place of St. Mark, when Frederic held the
stirrup of the pope’s mule; the Doge Ziani re-
ceiving from the pope the gold ring with which he
espoused the Adriatic in token of perpetual do-
minion over it; and other memorable scenes dear
to the pride and patriotism of the Venetians.
These were painted in fourteen compartments
round the hall. What remains to us of the works
of the two brothers renders it a subject of lasting
regret that these frescoes, and others still more
valuable, were destroyed by fire in 1577.
In 1452 Constantinople was taken by the Turks,
an event which threw the whole of Christendom
into consternation, not unmixed with shame. The
Venetians were the first to resume their commercial
relations with the Levant; they sent an embassy to
the Turkish sultan to treat for the redemption of
the Christian prisoners and negotiate a peace. This
was happily concluded in 1454, under the auspices
of the Doge, old Francesco Foscari.* It was on
this occasion that the Sultan Mohammed II.,
having seen some Venetian pictures, desired that
the Venetian government would send him one of
their painters. The Council of Ten, after some de-
* The story of the two Foscari is the subject of a tragedy
by Lord Byron. The taking of Constantinople is the subject
of one of the most beautiful tragedies of Joanna Baillie.