@article{TEXTUAL,
      recid = {10626},
      author = {Rateb, Nevine},
      title = {Saint Mark Preaching in Alexandria: A New Perspective},
      publisher = {The Middle East Documentation Center (MEDOC)},
      journal = {Mamlūk Studies Review},
      address = {2023},
      number = {TEXTUAL},
      pages = {71-97},
      abstract = {By the last decades of the ninth/fifteenth century an  interest in representing the “real” world in religious  narratives set within an authentic biblical background  prompted Venetian artists to integrate the Mamluk world  into their paintings. At that time, the Mamluks had control  over Jerusalem, as well as Alexandria (Egypt), where Saint  Mark had introduced Christianity. The Republic’s strong  commercial ties and diplomatic relations with the Mamluk  Sultanate provided Venetian painters with the necessary  Mamluk details. The present article reflects on one of the  most celebrated paintings in the San Marco cycle, St. Mark  Preaching in Alexandria by Gentile Bellini. In an attempt  to figure out why the artist incorporated an Ottoman  wearing a sword among hoards of Mamluk male and female  characters as they would have appeared at that time in  Alexandria, this paper identifies Mamluk costume in some  detail. The purpose of this study is to explain the  allusions Gentile’s painting contained to contemporary  events. In order to accomplish its purpose, the study  examines the Mamluk phenomenon in Venetian painting,  assesses Gentile’s Alexandrian setting and his accuracy in  portraying Mamluk versus Ottoman figures, analyzes the  relations between the Republic and the world of Islam, and  finally discusses Venice’s interest in the Mamluk world.},
      url = {http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/10626},
}