Skip to main content

Secondary sourcePaintingafter 1455

The Siege of Constantinople

Jean Le Tavernier · after 1455

A manuscript miniature painted after 1455 showing the 1453 siege of Constantinople, the battle in which Constantine XI died.

A near-contemporary but non-eyewitness depiction of the siege in which Constantine XI, the emperor it portrays, died.

Ask Constantine XI Palaiologos about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Medieval manuscript miniature of the siege of Constantinople: a walled city on a peninsula with blue-roofed towers and a harbor full of ships, and in the foreground an army camp with striped and blue tents, cannons, banners, and armored soldiers.
Jean Le Tavernier, Le siège de Constantinople, after 1455.

About this source

What it is

This is a manuscript miniature by Jean Le Tavernier, painted after 1455, showing the siege of Constantinople. It depicts a walled city with blue-roofed towers and a busy harbor, facing an army camp with striped tents, cannons, banners, and armored soldiers.

Why it matters

Although painted a short time after the siege, this image was not made by an eyewitness, and instead reflects how illustrated chronicles pictured the dramatic fall of Constantinople for later readers. The siege shown here was the event in which Constantine XI, the last Byzantine emperor, died defending his city.

Look closer

  • What details in the image suggest the scale of the attacking force compared to the defended city?
  • Since the artist did not witness the siege himself, what choices might he have made in imagining the scene?
  • What does this image leave out that an eyewitness account might include?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Constantine XI Palaiologos on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Constantine XI Palaiologos sources

Meet the AI Constantine XI Palaiologos →
Round bronze medal on a red textured background. In profile, facing right, a bearded man wears a tall pointed cap and a high-collared garment, with curled hair over his ear. Greek lettering runs around the rim.Sculpture

Primary source

Medal of John VIII Palaiologos

Pisanello · 1438-1439

Manuscript page with nine painted portraits of Byzantine emperors in three rows of three, each within a gold halo and wearing jeweled crowns and jeweled collars. Greek inscriptions appear above, between, and below the portraits.Painting

Secondary source

Zonaras Chronicle Portrait Folio

Unknown Byzantine scribes

Painted miniature portrait of a bearded man with dark eyes and a jeweled crown with red and green gems, wearing a jeweled collar with red and green stones, set within a gold circular halo with Greek lettering around it.Painting

Secondary source

Portrait of Constantine XI Palaiologos in the Mutinensis gr. 122 Codex

Unknown Byzantine artist · 15th century

Two photographs of a gold bulla seal hanging from a red cord, showing both faces. The left face has Greek inscription lines and a standing figure in a robe. The right face shows a haloed standing saint holding a cross, with a cross symbol and inscription to the left.Artifact

Primary source

Gold Seal of Constantine XI for Ragusa

1451

Stone ruins in an excavated trench: rectangular dressed limestone blocks and a low rubble wall, partly overgrown with grass, under bright sunlight. Cars and a fence are visible in the background, and a shadow of a person falls on the right side.Photograph

Secondary source

Hexamilion Wall Ruins Across the Corinth Isthmus

Nefasdicere

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Constantine XI Palaiologos now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions