St. Mark Preaching In Alexandria, By Jerry Brotton
The argument made against using the term “Renaissance” often comes with general conception that the term is referring to the european renaissance. Jerry Brotton explores how without the influence of the inventions and ideas of the Eastern Islamic, Ottoman, North African, and Western Asian civilizations the european renaissance would merely not exist. Brotton dives in depth how this new “renaissance” world may have been more connected then people may believe. The first example Brotton uses in chapter one is the Saint Mark Preaching in Alexandria (1504-7) by Gentile and Giovanni Bellini. The portrait shows St. Mark preaching in front of a chapel. The most interesting thing about this portrait is that St. Mark is preaching to Egyptian Malmuks,