10. VENETIAN MERCHANTS exchanging cloth for oriental produce (early to mid-fourteenth century). The Venetian empire grew through a system of depots and colonies to which local merchants would bring their wares.
11. THE FLORENTINE PAINTER SANDRO BOTTICELLI ( 1445-1510) was in close contact with the Neoplatonic circle around Lorenzo de' Medici, and later with the Dominican Savonarola. His Calumny of Apelles ( 1485-95) is typical of his interest in classical allegorical themes, while also revealing some of the drama and intensity that was to characterize his later religious works.