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The Battle of Lepanto, the famous naval battle against the Turks, took place in 1571 and concluded with the victory of the Venetians and its allies over the enemies of Christianity, who seemed by now invincible in the eyes of all the European nations. The Ottoman Turks were defeated by the combined forces of Spain, Venice and the Papacy under the command of Don John of Austria. This decisive victory by the Holy League permanently destroyed Ottoman naval power in the Mediterranean.
The intensity of the battle is palpable in the present depiction. The composition is dominated in the centre by a dramatically sinking galley - its stern receding into the murky green water as the helpless oars point skywards.
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