Turkey: 'Seated Scribe'. Portrait drawing by Venetian artist Gentile Bellini (1429-1507), c. 1479-1481. 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.

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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. 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.

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Size: 3827px × 5012px
Photo credit: © Pictures From History / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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