Italian Renaissance: Sandro Botticelli

Masterpieces of Sandro Botticelli

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.

Sandro Botticelli 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 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 that successfully competed as a pendant with Domenico Ghirlandaio's Jerome on the other side "the head of the saint being expressive of profound thought and quick subtlety" (Vasari). In 1470 he opened his own independent studio.

Lorenzo de' Medici was quick to employ his talent. 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 deeply influential in his artwork, as it was with his patrons, the Medicis.

Sandro was intensely religious. In later life, he was one of Savonarola's followers and burned his own paintings on pagan themes in the notorious "Bonfire of the Vanities". 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 learned 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." (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.

The Adoration of the Magi for Santa Maria Novella, ca1476, 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 him and prominent Florentine and Umbrian artists who had been summoned 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.

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
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, Museo di Capodimonte!Galleria Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples
Portrait of a Smeralda 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 (De)
Portrait of Giuliano de' Medici (1476-1477) - Tempera on panel, 75,6 x 36 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
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, Staaliche 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, D.C.
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, D.C.
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, University of Harvard, 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

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It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Italian Renaissance".