Doge's Palace with diamond-patterned bricks
and merlons showing Islamic influence. Below,
Iznik ware plate with tulips and hyacinths
Ogier de Busbecq, the ambassador of Ferdinand
I, Holy Roman Emperor to the Sultan of Turkey,
sent the first tulip bulbs and seeds to Vienna
in 1554 from the Ottoman Empire. Tulip bulbs
were then distributed from Vienna to Augsburg,
Antwerp and Amsterdam.
"Venice and the Islamic World 828-1797",
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
Yale Univ. Press, 2007, p. 45
Denny, Walter B.; "Iznik: The Artistry of Ottoman Ceramics",
Thames & Hudson, New York, p. 176