Sandro Botticelli
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- For the game, see Botticelli (game).
Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli ("little barrel") (March 1, 1445 – May 17, 1510) was an Italian painter of the Florentine school during the Early Renaissance (Quattrocento). Less than a hundred years later, this movement, under the patronage of Lorenzo de' Medici, was characterized by Giorgio Vasari as a "golden age", a thought, suitably enough, he expressed at the head of his Vita of Botticelli.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Apprenticeships
Born in Florence in the working-class rione of Ognissanti, Botticelli was first apprenticed to a goldsmith, then, following the boy's wishes, his doting father sent him to Fra Filippo Lippi, who was at work frescoing the Convent of the Carmine. Lippo Lippi's synthesis of the new control of three-dimensional forms, tender expressiveness in face and gesture, and decorative details inherited from the late Gothic style were the strongest influences on Botticelli. A different influence was the new sculptural monumentality of the Pollaiuolo brothers, who were doing a series of Virtues for the Tribunale, or meeting hall, of the Mercanzia, a cloth-merchants' confraternity, and Botticelli contributed to the set the Fortitude, dated 1470, in the Uffizi Gallery. He was an apprentice, too, in the studio of Andrea del Verrocchio, where Leonardo da Vinci worked beside him, but he made his name in his local Church of Ognissanti, with a St. Augustine (1480) that successfully competed as a pendant with Domenico Ghirlandaio's Jerome being frescoed at the same time on the other side of the nave, "the head of the saint being expressive of profound thought and quick subtlety" (Vasari). In 1470 he opened his own independent studio.
[edit] The Medici
Botticelli came of age in the time of Cosimo de' Medici. He lived to become the favorite painter of Cosimo's eminent grandson, Lorenzo il Magnifico. Lorenzo de' Medici was quick to employ his talent; the artist's paintings chronicle the triumphs of Lorenzo and the destruction of his enemies on the walls of Florence. Botticelli is representative of the Medicean age, his art is as extensive as the culture of the Renaissance itself. Always politically aware, the artist recorded the struggles between the Medici and the Pazzi and the Arrabbiati and the Piagonni. Botticelli made consistent use of the circular tondo form and did many beautiful female nudes, according to Vasari. The Birth of Venus was at the Medici villa of Castello.
He was influenced by Fra Filippo Lippi and Antonio Pollaiuolo. Neoplatonism, with its fusion of pagan and Christian themes and its elevation of estheticism as a transcendental element of art, was also deeply influential in his artwork, as it was with his patrons, the Medicis.
[edit] Religion
Sandro was intensely religious. In later life, he was one of Savonarola's followers and burnt his own paintings on pagan themes in the notorious "Bonfire of the Vanities". Botticelli biographer Ernst Steinman searched for the artist's psychological development through his Madonnas. In the deepening of insight and expression in the rendering of Mary's physiognomy, Steinman discerns proof of Savonarola's influence over Botticelli. This means that the biographer needed to alter the dates of a number of Madonnas to substantiate his theory; specifically, they are dated ten years later than before. Steinman disagrees with Vasari's assertion that Botticelli produced nothing after coming under the influence of Girolamo Savanarola. Steinman believes the spiritual and emotional Virgins rendered by Sandro follow directly from the teachings of the Dominican monk.
Earlier, Botticelli had painted an Assumption of the Virgin for Matteo Palmieri in a chapel at San Pietro Maggiore in which, it was rumored, both the patron who dictated the iconic scheme and the painter who painted it, were guilty of unidentified heresy, a delicate requirement in such a subject. The heretical notions seem to be gnostic in character:
| By the side door of San Piero Maggiore he did a panel for Matteo Palmieri, with a large number of figures representing the Assumption of Our Lady with zones of patriarchs, prophets, apostles, evangelists, martyrs, confessors, doctors, virgins, and the orders of angels, the whole from a design given to him by Matteo, who was a worthy and educated man. He executed this work with the greatest mastery and diligence, introducing the portraits of Matteo and his wife on their knees. But although the great beauty of this work could find no other fault with it, said that Matteo and Sandro were guilty of grave heresy. Whether this be true or not, I cannot say. (Giorgio Vasari) |
This is a common misconception based on a mistake by Vasari. The painting referred to here, now in the National Gallery in London, is by the artist Botticini. Vasari confused their similar sounding names.
[edit] Other works
The Adoration of the Magi for Santa Maria Novella, c. 1476, contains portraits of Cosimo de' Medici ("the finest of all that are now extant for its life and vigour"), his grandson Giuliano de' Medici, and Cosimo's son Giovanni, were effusively described by Vasari:
- "The beauty of the heads in this scene is indescribable, their attitudes all different, some full-face, some in profile, some three-quarters, some bent down, and in various other ways, while the expressions of the attendants, both young and old, are greatly varied, displaying the artist's perfect mastery of his profession. Sandro further clearly shows the distinction between the suites of each of the kings. It is a marvellous work in colour, design and composition."
In 1481, Pope Sixtus IV summoned Botticelli and other prominent Florentine and Umbrian artists to fresco the walls of the Sistine Chapel. The iconological program was the supremacy of the Papacy. Sandro's contribution was moderately successful. He returned to Florence, and "being of a sophistical turn of mind, he there wrote a commentary on a portion of Dante and illustrated the Inferno which he printed, spending much time over it, and this abstension from work led to serious disorders in his living." Thus Vasari characterized the first printed Dante (1481) with Botticelli's decorations; he could not imagine that the new art of printing might occupy an artist. As for the subject, when Fra Girolamo Savonarola began to preach hellfire and damnation, the susceptible Sandro Botticelli became one of his adherents, a piagnone, left painting as a worldly vanity, burned much of his own early work, fell into poverty as a result, and would have starved but for the tender support of his former patrons.
[edit] References in popular culture
Botticelli's name surfaced in popular culture in connection with the 2003 bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code. In the popular TV sitcom Frasier, Botticelli is mentioned along with other notable artists. In the episode To Tell the Truth, Niles compliments Roz's baby pictures by declaring "Botticelli himself couldn't have painted a more perfect angel."
Botticelli is also mentioned in the Anne Rice novels "Blood and Gold" and "Vittorio the Vampire". In "Blood and Gold", he is seen to hold a number of conversations with the story's main character Marius. He is also mentioned along with his painting "the Birth of Venus" later on in the book.
There is an episode of The Simpsons where Homer daydreams about an attractive new female co-worker by picturing her as the goddess Venus in Botticelli's painting The Birth of Venus.
[edit] Anthology of works
- Madonna and Child with an Angel (1465-1467) -Tempera on panel, 87 x 60 cm, Spedale degli Innocenti, Florence
- Madonna and Child with an Angel (1465-67) - Tempera on panel, 110 x 70 cm, Musée Fesch, Ajaccio
- Madonna della Loggia (c. 1467) - Tempera on panel, 72 x 50 cm, Uffizi, Florence
- The Virgin and Child with Two Angels and the Young St. John the Baptist (1465-1470) - Tempera on panel, 85 x 62 cm, Galleria dell Accademia, Florence
- The Virgin and Child, St. John and Angels (2nd half of the 15th c.) - National Museum in Warsaw, Poland
- Adoration of the Magi (1465-1467) -Tempera on panel, 50 x 136 cm, National Gallery, London
- Portrait of a Young Man (c. 1469) - Tempera on panel, 51 x 33,7 cm, Palazzo Pitti, Florence
- Madonna in Glory with Seraphim (1469-1470) - Tempera on panel, 120 x 65 cm, Uffizi, Florence
- Madonna of the Rosegarden (Madonna del Roseto) (1469-1470) - Tempera on panel, 124 x 65 cm, Uffizi, Florence
- Madonna and Child and Two Angels (c. 1468-1470) - Tempera on panel, 100 x 71 cm, Galleria Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples
- Portrait of a Esmeralda Brandini (1470-1475) - Tempera on panel, 65,7 x 41 cm, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Fortitude (c. 1470) - Tempera on panel, 167 x 87 cm, Uffizi, Florence
- Madonna and Child with Six Saints (Sant'Ambrogio Altarpiece) (c. 1470) - Tempera on panel, 170 x 194 cm, Uffizi, Florence
- Madonna and Child with an Angel (c. 1470) - Tempera on wood, 84 x 65 cm, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
- The Return of Judith to Bethulia (1470- 1472) - Oil on panel, 31 x 24 cm, Uffizi, Florence
- The Discovery of the Murder of Holofernes (1470-1472) - Tempera on wood, 31 x 25 cm, Uffizi, Florence
- Adoration of the Magi (1465-1467) -Tempera on panel, diameter 131,5 cm, National Gallery, London
- Portrait of a Young Woman (c. 1475) - Tempera on panel, 61 x 40 cm, Palazzo Pitti, Florence
- Adoration of the Magi (1465-1467) -Tempera on panel, 111 x 134 cm, Uffizi, Florence
- St. Sebastian (1474) - Tempera on panel, 195 x 175 cm, Staatliche Museen, Berlin
- Portrait of a Man with a Medal of Cosimo the Elder (c. 1474-1475) - Tempera on panel, 57,5 x 44 cm, Uffizi, Florence
- Portrait of Giuliano de' Medici (c. 1475) - Tempera on panel, 54 x 36 cm, Accademia Carrara, Bergamo
- Madonna and Child (c. 1475) - Tempera on panel, Art Institute, Chicago
- Catherine of Alexandria, portrait of Caterina Sforza (c. 1475) - Lindenau-Museum, Altenburg
- Portrait of Giuliano de' Medici (1476-1477) - Tempera on panel, 75,6 x 36 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington
- The Birt of Christ, (1476-1477) - Fresco, 200 x 300 cm, Santa Maria Novella, Florence
- Portrait of Giuliano de' Medici (1478) - Panel, 54 x 36 cm, Staatliche Museen, Berlin
- Madonna and Child with Eight Angels (c. 1478) - Tempera on panel, diameter 135 cm, Staatliche Museen, Berlin
- St. Augustine (1480) - Fresco, 152 x 112 cm, church of Ognissanti, Florence
- Madonna of the Magnificat (Madonna del Magnificat) (1480-1483) - Tempera on panel, diameter 118 cm, Uffizi, Florence
- Madonna of the Book (Madonna del Libro) (c. 1480-1483) - Tempera on panel, 58 x 39,5 cm, Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan
- Portrait of a Young Woman (1480-85) - Tempera on wood, 82 x 54 cm, Stadelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt
- Portrait of a Young Woman (after 1480) - Oil on panel, 47,5 x 35 cm, Staatliche Museen, Berlin
- Annunciation (1481) - Fresco, 243 x 550 cm, Uffizi, Florence
- St. Sixtus II (1481) - Fresco, 210 x 80 cm, Sistine Chapel, Vatican City
- Adoration of the Magi (1481-1482) - Tempera on panel, 70 x 103 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington
- Pallas and the Centaur (1482-1483) - Tempera on canvas, 207 x 148 cm, Uffizi, Florence
- Venus and Mars (1483) - Tempera on panel, 69 x 173 cm, National Gallery, London
- Portrait of a Young Man (c. 1483) - Tempera on panel, 37,5 x 28,2 cm, National Gallery, London
- Portrait of a Young Man (c. 1482-1483) - Tempera on panel, 41 x 31 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington
- The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti (c. 1483) - Tempera on panel, 83 x 138 cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid
- The Virgin and Child Enthroned (Bardi Altarpiece) (1484) - Tempera on panel, 185 x 180 cm, Staatliche Museen, Berlin
- The Birth of Venus (1484-1486) - Tempera on canvas, 184,5 x 285,5 cm, Uffizi, Florence
- Annunciation (1485) - Tempera and gold on wood, 19,1 x 31,4 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Madonna of the Pomegranate (Madonna della Melagrana) (c. 1487) - Tempera on panel, diameter 143,5 cm, Uffizi, Florence
- The Virgin and Child with Four Angels and Six Saints (Pala di San Barnaba) (c. 1487-1488) - Tempera on panel, 268 x 280 cm, Uffizi, Florence
- Vision of St. Augustine (c. 1488) - Tempera on panel, 20 x 38 cm, Uffizi, Florence
- Christ in the Sepulcre (c. 1488) - Tempera on panel, 21 x 41 cm, Uffizi, Florence
- Salome with the Head of St. John the Baptist (c. 1488) - Tempera on panel, 21 x 40,5 cm, Uffizi, Florence
- Extraction of St. Ignatius' Heart (c. 1488) - Tempera on panel, 21 x 40,5 cm, Uffizi, Florence
- Cestello Annunciation (1489-1490) - Tempera on panel, 150 x 156 cm, Uffizi, Florence
- The Virgin Adoring the Child (c. 1490) - Tempera on panel, diameter 59,6 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington
- Lamentation over the Dead Christ with Saints (c. 1490) - Tempera on panel, 140 x 207 cm, Alte Pinakothek, Munich
- Portrait of a Man (c. 1490) - Tempera on canvas transferred from wood, 49 x 35 cm, Private collection
- San Marco Altarpiece (1490-1492) - Tempera on panel, 378 x 258 cm (pala) and 21 x 269 cm (entire predella) Uffizi, Florence
- St. Augustine in His Cell (1490-1494) - Tempera on panel, 41 x 27 cm cm, Uffizi, Florence
- Madonna and Child and the Young St John the Baptist (1490-1495) - Tempera on canvas, 134 x 92 cm, Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti), Florence
- Portrait of Lorenzo di Ser Piero Lorenzi (1490-1495) - Tempera on panel, 50 x 36,5 cm, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia
- Holy Trinity (Pala delle Convertite) (1491-1493) - Tempera on panel, 215 x192 cm, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London
- The Virgin and Child with Three Angels (Madonna del Padiglione) (c. 1493) - Tempera on panel, diameter 65 cm, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan
- Calumny of Apelles (1494-1495) - Tempera on panel, 62 x 91 cm, Uffizi, Florence
- Lamentation over the Dead Christ (c. 1495) - Tempera on panel, 107 x 71 cm, Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan
- Last Communion of St. Jerome (c. 1495) - Tempera on panel, 34,5 x 25,4 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Portrait of Dante (c. 1495) - Tempera on canvas, 54,7 x 47,5 cm, Private collection
- The Story of Virginia (1496-1504) - Tempera on panel, 85 x 165 cm, Accademia Carrara, Bergamo
- The Story of Lucretia (1496-1504) - Tempera on panel, 83,5 x 180 cm, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
- Crucifixion (c. 1497) - Tempera on canvas, 73,5 x 50,8 cm, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge
- Christ Crowned with Thorns (c. 1500) - Tempera on panel, 47,6 x 32,3 cm, Accademia Carrara, Bergamo, Italy
- Transfiguration, St Jerome, St Augustine (c. 1500) - Tempera on panel, 27,5 x 35,5 cm, Galleria Pallavicini, Rome
- Judith Leaving the Tent of Holofernes (1495-1500) - Tempera on panel, 36,5 x 20 cm, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
- Agony in the Garden (c. 1500) - Tempera on panel, 53 x 35 cm]], Capilla Real, Granada
- The Mystical Nativity (c. 1500) - Tempera on canvas, 108,5 x 75 cm, National Gallery, London
- Baptism of St. Zenobius and His Appointment as Bishop (1500-1505) - Tempera on panel, 66,5 x 149,5 cm, National Gallery, London
- Three Miracles of St. Zenobius (1500-1505) - Tempera on panel, 65 x 139,5 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Three Miracles of St. Zenobius (1500-1505) - Tempera on panel, 67 x 150,5 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Last Miracle and the Death of St. Zenobius (1500-1505) - Tempera on panel, 66 x 182 cm, Gemäldegalerie, Dresden
[edit] References
- Knackfuss H., Monographs On Artists, VI. Botticelli by Ernst Steinman, Translated by Campbell Dodgson, New York, Lemcke & Huachner, 1901, Pg. 112.
- New York Times, Life of Botticelli, November 19, 1904, Page BR783.
- Da Vinci Declassified, 2006 TLC documentary
- Ullman, H., Sandro Botticelli, 1893
- Yashiro, Y., Sandro Botticelli and the Florentine Renaissance, 1929
- Lightbown, R., Sandro Botticelli: Life and Work, 1989
[edit] See also
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