The Renaissance in Italy by Bartlett Kenneth;

Author:Bartlett, Kenneth;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hackett Publishing Company, Incorporated
Published: 2019-09-29T16:00:00+00:00

{203} Illus. 13.1 Domenico Tintoretto (Domenico Robusti, known as Tintoretto, 1560–1635), The Capture of Constantinople During the Fourth Crusade, 1598–1605. Palazzo Ducale, Venice.

The Byzantine Empire, with its capital of Constantinople, had grown weaker as a consequence of the Ottoman conquest of Anatolia; dynastic tensions among the Greeks; and the ambitions of the Venetians, especially in their competition with the Genoese. This made Constantinople a convenient and attractive target for the Europeans of the Fourth Crusade. The crusaders under Baldwin of Flanders and the Venetians under Doge Enrico Dandolo finally captured the city in April of 1204, beginning the Latin Empire of Constantinople. Dandolo died in Venice but in a highly symbolic move was then buried in Hagia Sofia in Constantinople.

The scene here by Tintoretto that hangs in the Room of the Great Council in the ducal palace in Venice shows the very elderly Dandolo in the center of the battle, together with Roman clergy. The terrible looting of the city provided a number of important Venetian treasures, such as the bronze Quadriga from the Hippodrome then placed on the façade of St. Mark’s basilica. Today visitors see only replicas: the originals of these magnificent equine statues are now preserved indoors.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.