The Great Transition

Gentile Bellini (c. 1429 – 23 February 1507) was a Venetian painter of the school of Venice. In 1479, he was sent to Constantinople by the Venetian government when Sultan Mehmed II requested an artist to spend some time in Constantinople as part of the peace settlement between Venice and the Turks. He painted the portrait of Mehmed II, now in the National Gallery, London.