Battle of Lepanto

Oil on canvas. Anonymous Madrid artist. Early 17th century

Representation of the naval battle of Lepanto which took place on 7 October 1571 in the Gulf of Corinth in the eastern Mediterranean off the coast of Turkey, between the fleet of the Holy League, formed by Venice, the Holy See and Spain, captained by Don Juan de Austria, and with the participation of the fleets of Genoa and Tuscany, against the Ottoman fleet led by Alí Pasha, with a total of 444 ships involved.Salto de línea The "most noble occasion the centuries have seen", as Cervantes called the battle in which he himself took part, was represented by the Venetian painters Tintoretto and Veronese,probably interpreting direct testimonials. The Genoese artist Luca Cambiaso also painted six other scenes related to Lepanto for tapestries for the Principe Doria and repeated his compositions in further paintings in the Monastery at El Escorial.Salto de línea Formerly attributed to an anonymous Venetian artist, this is in fact the work of an unknown artist of the Madrid school from the first third of the 17th century, inspired by an original engraving by the Italian artist Martinus Rota (c.1520-1583) depicting the same subject although introducing some variations, such as the presence of Our Lady of the Rosary interceding for the Christian fleet.Salto de línea