History House

Episode 3: The Ottoman Empire and the Renaissance: Sultan Mehmed II and Gentile Bellini


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WARNING: Contains brief sexual references and a description of an execution.


The influence of the Renaissance in the Ottoman Empire, told through the figures of Sultan Mehmed II "the Conqueror" and the Venetian artist, Gentile Bellini.


Links to photos associated with the episode:


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Recommended further reading...


  • Babinger, Franz, (translated from German by Ralph Manheim), Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time, (Princeton, New Jersey, 1978).
  • The standard biography of Sultan Mehmed II, though somewhat dated.


    • Batuhan, Tuğba, 'Materiality of Mehmet II Smelling A Rose Based on Gentile Bellini’s Painting with Cultural Perspective', in Art-Sanat, Vol. 14 (2020), pp. 1–16.
    • A research article that examines the 'Sinan Portrait', an artistic cousin to Bellini's famous portrait.


      • Campbell, Caroline, Chong, Alan (eds.), Bellini and the East (London, 2005).
      • A book published to accompany the 2005-2006 exhibition 'Bellini and the East' in the Isabella Gardner Museum in Boston and the National Gallery in London. A comprehensive series of essays that examines Mehmed's II's Relations with the West and Bellini's stay in Constantinople.


        • Necipoğlu, Gülru, 'Visual Cosmopolitanism and Creative Translation: Artistic Conversations with Renaissance Italy in Mehmed II’s Constantinople', in Muqarnas, Vol. 29 (2012), pp. 1-81.
        • A fascinating article that explores the influence of the Italian Renaissance in Mehmed II's Constantinople.


          • Raby, Julian, EL GRAN TURCO, Mehmed the Conqueror as a Patron of the Arts of Christendom (Oxford, 1980).
          • A PhD Dissertation, completed in 1980, that set in motion research into Mehmed II as a patron of Western Art.


            • Rodini, Elizabeth, Gentile Bellini's Portrait of Sultan Mehmed II: Lives and Afterlives of an Iconic Image, (London, 2020).
            • The most comprehensive work on Gentile Bellini's famous Portrait of Mehmed II.


              Break Music, ‘Uskudara Gideriken’ by Turku, Nomads of the Silk Road, (Free Music Archive). https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Turku_Nomads_of_the_Silk_Road/Alleys_of_Istanbul/01_-Uskudara_Gideriken/ CC BY ATTRIBUTION 4.0 INTERNATIONAL 4.0 Deed (No changes were made. By using this audio track, the licensor does not endorse this podcast nor its use for this episode).


              Ending and closing theme, 'Classical Orchestral Dvorak Serenade Waltz Strings Music, provided by mrqwertz on https://www.pond5.com (Purchased with license on the 01/06/2024)






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              History HouseBy Owen Delaney