Patriarch Joseph II of Constantinople

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Joseph II of Constantinople, fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli, Cappella dei Magi, Firenze

Patriarch Joseph II was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1416-1439. He was the son of Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria.

Together with Byzantine Emperor John VIII Palaiologos, 23 Metropolitan bishops and countless scholars and theologians, he took part in the Council of Florence. While in Florence, he was quartered in the Palazzo Ferrantini. He is portrayed in Benozzo Gozzoli's frescoes in the Magi Chapel of Palazzo Medici Riccardi, which celebrates the entrance of the Byzantine dignataries in the city.

Joseph was very old and ill and died within 2 months in 1439. His death caused much grief to all present at the Council, as he was a fervent supporter of union between the Churches. His grave in the Dominican convent church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence survives, with an elaborate fresco portrait in a semi-Byzantine style.