This page is referenced by:

• 1 2024-02-15T11:49:40-08:00 The Last Judgment: When was this made? 10 Early 1300's, Venetian plain 2024-03-07T07:00:22-08:00

  Tommy Leimkuhler, College of the Holy Cross, Class of 2025
  
  This painting showing the Last Judgment was probably made during the early 14th century in the Venetian Republic. The Republic of Venice lasted from 697 to 1797, and it reached the height of its power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. First established as a province of the Byzantine empire, the Republic of Venice grew prosperous through trade, due to its access to the Mediterranean and Aegean seas. In its early years, the Republic prospered on the salt trade. Eventually the Venetian Republic dominated trade along the Mediterranean Sea between Europe, North Africa, and Asia.

  The Venetian Republic played a central role in the Crusades, especially the Fourth Crusade, which in 1204 conquered the capital of the Byzantine Empire. In the fourteenth century, the Holy League of 1332 was founded as a military alliance between the chief Christian states of the Aegean and Mediterranean in order to combat growing Islamic powers. Co-existing with these growing military and religious tensions in the 1300s -- when this painting was made -- was the beginning of the Renaissance.