The Merchant of Venice (1969 film) and doubled for Venice; and filming was completed in Rome, where Welles was editing "Don Quixote". The film itself was a shortened version of the play, Welles even eliminated the character of Portia from the film after his mistress Oja Kodar declined the role, due to her then-limited knowledge of English. Francesco Lavagnino, who had written the musical scores of Welles's previous two Shakespeare films, "Othello" (1952) and "Chimes at Midnight" (1966), provided a full musical score for this film. Welles completed the film in the summer of 1969, and gave a preview screening to Oja Kodar and her mother
History of the Jews in Venice History of the Jews in Venice The history of the Jewish Community of Venice, which is the capital of the Veneto region of Italy has been well known since the medieval era. Little by little, despite alternating moments of "permission" and "prohibition", the number and importance of Jews in Venice grew considerably. Despite this, On March 29, 1516, the Republic of Venice enacted a decree to formally persecute and isolate the Jews of Venice. Beginning in 1516, the Republic obliged the Jews to live in an area of the city where the foundries, known in Venetian as "geti", had been