14 Facts About Leonardo Loredan

Leonardo Loredan began his political ascent as a lawyer in a legal magistracy concerned mainly with financial scandals and bankruptcies, which he followed with an illustrious career that included positions such as Sage of the College, Sage of the Terraferma, Camerlengo di Comun, of Padua, ducal councillor for Cannaregio, and finally Procurator of Saint Mark, one of the highest and most distinguished offices in the Venetian Republic, which allowed him to rise to the political top of the state.

Venice was defeated, but in 1513 Leonardo Loredan formed a new alliance with the French King Louis XII against Pope Julius.

Loredan was portrayed in numerous portraits and paintings, the most famous of which being the Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan, painted by Giovanni Bellini in 1501 and now on display in the National Gallery in London.

Leonardo Loredan was notably portrayed by Vittore Carpaccio, and posthumously by Pompeo Batoni in a work known as The Triumph of Venice, where he is depicted in front of the Doge's Palace surrounded by mythological figures symbolising his victory over the League of Cambrai.

In 1503, the Panegyricus Leonardo Loredan Lauredano was created in his honour.

From childhood Leonardo Loredan demonstrated "exceptional maturity, combined with goodness and with the most noble talent of genius", as the historian Andrea Navagero testified.

Leonardo Loredan had a brother, Pietro, of poor health and unstable character, dedicated to studying alchemy in Padua, where he had moved, and disinterested in political life.

Leonardo Loredan held this position until 1489, when he was elected to the prestigious position of ducal councillor.

Leonardo Loredan was helped in the negotiations by Andrea Gritti, a Venetian who had been conducting trade in Constantinople and would later become doge of Venice himself.

Leonardo Loredan united the population, calling for sacrifice and total mobilisation.

Doge Leonardo Loredan's health was never excellent, but his character and intellectual energy supported him well in his government posts.

Leonardo Loredan was interred in the church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, in a simple tomb with a celestial marble headstone without inscription, placed above the steps of the main altar and now no longer existing.

Giovanni Bellini's portrait of Leonardo Loredan is notable for being one of the first frontal portraits of a reigning doge; throughout the Middle Ages, mortal men had been portrayed in profile, while the frontal view had been reserved for more sacred subjects.

Over two centuries later, when Pompeo Batoni was given a detailed programme for his large Triumph of Venice by the Odescalchi cardinal who commissioned it, Leonardo Loredan was chosen to represent the office of Doge, standing amid a group of allegorical personifications.