DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68073#0170
144
OLD WORLD MASTERS
The wedding took place by proxy in Venice in 1472 and was cel-
ebrated with great magnificence. The Doge, himself, Cristoforo Moro,
called for the bride at her palace in the Bucentaur and accompanied
her to the Venetian ship in which she embarked with a regal suite for
her new home. After experiencing several accidents at sea, the beauti-
ful Venetian lady arrived in Cyprus, where her rare beauty and
charming manners captivated the entire population. Within two
years her husband died and Caterina then reigned over Cyprus for
fourteen years, subject, however, to the strict surveillance of Venice.
At last, wearied by restrictions and intrigues, the Queen of Cyprus in
1489 returned to Venice with her beloved brother, Giorgio Cornaro,
and made a solemn transfer of all her claims in Cyprus to the Doge.
Caterina then went to Frattalonga, situated at the foot of the
Asolani mountains, to meet the Emperor Maximilian, who was on
his way home from Milan to Vienna; and the place pleased her so
much that she obtained from the Doge, Augostino Barbarigo, the
investiture of Asolo and its district. A few months later—in October
1489—Caterina returned to Asolo with a suite of four thousand per-
sons and established a Court in the Castle, where she lived for twenty-
one years, protected by troops granted to her by the Republic of Ven-
ice. In this beautiful residence Caterina was said to have held three
Courts—that of the Muses; that of Love; and that of her own, which
was of great magnificence. The leading spirit there was the celebrated
poet, Pietro Bembo, (in later years Cardinal Bembo), who wrote his
famous dialogues of love, Gli Asolani, here in 1490, for the superb
marriage festivities of one of Caterina’s maids-of-honor. Every
illustrious personage of the period visited the Court at Asolo.
During the wars occasioned by the League of Cambrai (1508),
Caterina returned for safety to Venice and died there in 1510, in the
palace of her brother, Giorgio, who was then procurator of St. Mark’s.
Titian painted several other portraits of Caterina Cornaro, of which
the one in the Uffizi is the most famous, representing the Queen of
Cyprus with her golden crown studded with large pearls and an over-
dress or coat of rich green brocade.
OLD WORLD MASTERS
The wedding took place by proxy in Venice in 1472 and was cel-
ebrated with great magnificence. The Doge, himself, Cristoforo Moro,
called for the bride at her palace in the Bucentaur and accompanied
her to the Venetian ship in which she embarked with a regal suite for
her new home. After experiencing several accidents at sea, the beauti-
ful Venetian lady arrived in Cyprus, where her rare beauty and
charming manners captivated the entire population. Within two
years her husband died and Caterina then reigned over Cyprus for
fourteen years, subject, however, to the strict surveillance of Venice.
At last, wearied by restrictions and intrigues, the Queen of Cyprus in
1489 returned to Venice with her beloved brother, Giorgio Cornaro,
and made a solemn transfer of all her claims in Cyprus to the Doge.
Caterina then went to Frattalonga, situated at the foot of the
Asolani mountains, to meet the Emperor Maximilian, who was on
his way home from Milan to Vienna; and the place pleased her so
much that she obtained from the Doge, Augostino Barbarigo, the
investiture of Asolo and its district. A few months later—in October
1489—Caterina returned to Asolo with a suite of four thousand per-
sons and established a Court in the Castle, where she lived for twenty-
one years, protected by troops granted to her by the Republic of Ven-
ice. In this beautiful residence Caterina was said to have held three
Courts—that of the Muses; that of Love; and that of her own, which
was of great magnificence. The leading spirit there was the celebrated
poet, Pietro Bembo, (in later years Cardinal Bembo), who wrote his
famous dialogues of love, Gli Asolani, here in 1490, for the superb
marriage festivities of one of Caterina’s maids-of-honor. Every
illustrious personage of the period visited the Court at Asolo.
During the wars occasioned by the League of Cambrai (1508),
Caterina returned for safety to Venice and died there in 1510, in the
palace of her brother, Giorgio, who was then procurator of St. Mark’s.
Titian painted several other portraits of Caterina Cornaro, of which
the one in the Uffizi is the most famous, representing the Queen of
Cyprus with her golden crown studded with large pearls and an over-
dress or coat of rich green brocade.