Venice and the Mediterranean World

From the first millennium CE the floating city was rooted in material exchange with Mediterranean centers as well as the entrepôts of greater Asia. While historiography over the last century has amply celebrated Venice’s maritime history, less attention has been devoted to Venetian absorption of the cultures its merchants and immigrants brought to the city.  To commemorate the passing of John Marino, a respected historian of the Mediterranean world, this paper will focus on the cultural exchange of food, dress, and interior décor, highlighting both what Venice imported but also what it exported to its commercial hubs and colonies.  Although Venetian maritime power waned after 1625, its material culture continued to absorb the aesthetics of worldly encounters.