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From the 16th to 19th C the production of decorative arts continued to flourish with the introduction of both rococo and baroque elements signaling an increasingly open attitude to all things European. The production of Orientalist paintings is rich in topographical landscapes of Istanbul, genre scenes, and portraits of Ottoman notables. Europe’s fascination with its powerful, Muslim neighbors inspired a wave of accounts and paintings of the Ottoman world. The taking of Constantinople in 1453 by the young Mehmet II ('The Conqueror’) not only sparked this interest, but the young Sultan himself, who invited European painters to his court, further fueled this fashion. The period following his reign saw relations between the Republic of Venice and its powerful neighbor reach a state of relative calm, initiating a period of exchange and trade.
