Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) is one of the most outstanding Florentine artists who worked during the era Early Renaissance. The nickname Botticelli, which translated into Russian means barrel, originally belonged to the artist’s older brother Giovanni, who had a large physique. The real name of the painter is Alessandro Filipepi.
Childhood, adolescence and learning skills
Botticelli was born into a tanner's family. The first mention of him was discovered 13 years after the birth of the boy, in 1458. Young Botticelli was an extremely sick child, but made every effort to learn to read. Around the same period, Sandro began working part-time in the workshop of his other brother Antonio.
Botticelli was not destined to engage in the craft, and he realized this after some time as an apprentice. In the early 60s of the 15th century, Sandro began studying with one of greatest artists of that era - Fra Filippo Lippi. The master's style affected the young Botticelli, which later manifested itself in the artist's early works.
Already in 1467, the young Florentine artist opened a workshop, and among his first works were “Madonna with Children and Two Angels”, “Madonna of the Eucharist” and some other paintings.
The beginning of an independent creative path
Sandro completed his first project already in 1470, and his work was intended for the courtroom. Things went very well for Botticelli, and he soon became a sought-after master, whose fame gradually began to reach the royal palace.
Botticelli created his first masterpiece in 1475. It was a painting called “The Adoration of the Magi.” The customer was a fairly wealthy and influential banker with connections to the then rulers of the city, with whom he introduced the talented guy. Since then, the creator was close to the ruling Medici family and carried out orders specifically for them. The main works of this period can be called the paintings “Spring” and “Birth of Venus”.
Invitation to Rome and peak of glory
Rumors about the young but very talented artist quickly spread all the way to Rome, where Pope Sixtus IV called him in the early 80s. Botticelli was commissioned in collaboration with others famous personalities of his time to carry out the design of a recently erected structure, known to this day - the Sistine Chapel. Sandro took part in the creation of several famous frescoes, which included “The Youth of Moses” and “The Temptation of Christ.”
The very next year, Botticelli returned to his native Florence, the likely reason for which was the death of his father. Although at the same time he was literally overloaded with orders in his hometown.
In the mid-80s of the 15th century, Botticelli was at the peak of his fame: there were so many orders that the artist simply did not have time to paint all the paintings on his own. Most of the work was carried out by the students of the outstanding creator, and Botticelli himself was engaged only in creating the most complex elements of the compositions. Among the most famous works The artist’s works, which were created by him in the 80s, include “The Annunciation”, “Venus and Mars” and “Magnificat Madonna”.
Later creativity
Serious trials in life befell the creator in the 90s, when he lost his beloved brother, from whom he received so much funny nickname. A little later, the artist began to doubt whether all his activities were justified.
This all coincided with extreme important events which led to the overthrow of the Medici dynasty. Savonarola came to power, fiercely criticizing the wastefulness and corruption of the previous rulers. He was also dissatisfied with the papacy. The power of this ruler was ensured by popular support, Botticelli also went over to his side, but Savonarola’s rule did not last long: after just a few years he was overthrown from the throne and burned alive at the stake.
The sad events deeply wounded the painter. Many at that time said that Botticelli was one of the “converts,” as could be judged by the creator’s latest works. It was this decade that became decisive in the artist’s life.
Last years of life and death
In the last 10-12 years of his life, the fame of the great painter began to gradually fade away and Botticelli could only remember his former popularity. Contemporaries who saw him in the last years of his life wrote about him that he was completely poor, walked on crutches and no one cared the slightest about him. Latest works Botticelli's paintings, which included The Mystical Nativity of 1500, were not popular and no one approached him about commissioning new paintings. Another indicative case was when the then queen, when choosing artists to fulfill her order, in every possible way rejected Botticelli’s proposals.
Died once famous painter in 1510 all alone and the poor. He was buried in a cemetery near one of the Florentine churches. Along with the creator himself, the fame of him completely died, which was revived only in the final decades of the 19th century.
There are several paintings that people associate with the Renaissance. These paintings are world famous and have become real symbols of that time. To paint most of the paintings, artists invited people whose names have not reached us as sitters. They simply looked like the characters the artist needed and that’s all. And therefore, no matter how interested we are in their fate, now practically nothing is known about them.
Sandro Botticelli and his "Venus", Simonetta Vespucci
An example of this is the famous painting by Michelangelo that adorns the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, “The Creation of Adam,” or the creation of the same author, the statue of David. Now it is no longer known who served as the model for the creation of these works.
The same is with the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci “Mona Lisa”. There are now many rumors that the subject of the painting was Lisa Gherardini, but there is more doubt than certainty about this version. And the very mystery of the picture is more likely connected with the personality of Leonard da Vinci rather than with his model.
However, against the backdrop of all this uncertainty, the history of creation famous painting Sandro Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" and the model that served as the prototype for Venus are quite clear. She was Simonetta Vespucci, a universally recognized beauty of that era. Unfortunately, the painting was not painted from life, because by that time Botticelli’s muse was already dead.
Botticelli was born in Florence and all his life he was patronized by the most influential family in the city at that time - the Medici. Simonetta also lived in the same city, her maiden name there was Cattaneo, she was the daughter of a Genoese nobleman. Simonetta, at the age of sixteen, married Marco Vespucci, who fell madly in love with her and was well received by her parents.
All the men in the city went crazy with Simonetta's beauty and kind character, even the brothers Giuliano and Lorenzo de' Medici fell under her charm. Simonetta was proposed as a model for the artist Sandro Botticelli by the Vespucci family itself. For Botticelli this became a fatal meeting, he fell in love with his model at first sight, she became his muse. At the same time, at the knightly tournament held in 1475, Giuliano de' Medici performed with a flag on which Botticelli's hand also depicted a portrait of Simonetta with an inscription on French, meaning “Incomparable.” After his victory in this tournament, Simonetta was declared the “Queen of Beauty”, and her fame as the most beautiful woman in Florence spread throughout Europe.
And as mentioned above, unfortunately Simonetta died soon after, in 1476 at the age of only 23, presumably from tuberculosis. Botticelli was never able to forget her and lived alone all his life; he died in 1510.
Without a doubt, the artist respected Simonetta's marriage and did not show his love in any way, except by painting many paintings with her image. Thus, in the famous canvas “Venus and Mars,” he depicted heroes whose similarity to Simonetta and the author himself in the role of Mars is not questioned by anyone.
And in 1485 Botticelli wrote famous painting“The Birth of Venus,” which he dedicated to the memory of his beloved, nine years after her death. Botticelli's love was so great that he asked to be buried in the tomb where Simonetta Vespucci was buried, “at the feet” of her burial.
It is known that Botticelli wrote more than 150 works, but most of them were destroyed by representatives of the Catholic Church, who accused the works of paganism and secularism. The Birth of Venus was miraculously saved, rumored to have been protected by Lorenzo de' Medici in memory of his brother and love for Simonetta.
Details Category: Fine arts and architecture of the Renaissance (Renaissance) Published 10/13/2016 19:14 Views: 2876“His purely personal art reflected the face of the century. In it, as if in focus, everything that preceded that moment of culture and everything that then constituted the “present” were combined (A. Benois).
The artist's real name is Alessandro Mariano Di Vanni Di Amedeo Filipepi. He was born into a simple family - his father was a leather tanner, but he was raised by his older brother Antonio, who was a wonderful jeweler. Because of his plumpness, he was nicknamed “Botticello” (barrel), a nickname that passed on to Sandro. But there is an opinion that Botticelli received this nickname for the features of his figure. However, this has nothing to do with his work.
Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510)– famous Italian artist Early Renaissance, representative of the Florentine school. The first thing that catches your eye when looking at Botticelli’s paintings is their spirituality and subtle coloring. It is believed that Botticelli created about 50 paintings.
Sandro studied like all the children of his time, and then became an apprentice in the jewelry workshop of his brother Antonio. But he did not stay there for long and around 1464 he became an apprentice to Filippo Lippi, one of the famous artists of that time.
Filippo Lippi's influence
The work of Filippo Lippi had a very great influence on Botticelli, and a careful look at the paintings of these artists, this influence is obvious. For example, a three-quarter turn of the face, a decorative pattern of draperies and hands, a penchant for detail, and the lyricism of the created images. But the main thing is the color. It seems to glow softly. Here, for comparison, are paintings by F. Lippi and S. Botticelli.
F. Lippi. Altar of the Novitiate. Uffizi (Florence)
S. Botticelli “Madonna and Child and Two Angels” (1465-1470)
Interesting fact: first Botticelli was a student of Lippi, and then Lippi’s son became a student of Botticelli.
The artists collaborated until 1467, and then their paths diverged: Filippo went to Spoleto, Botticelli remained in Florence and opened his workshop there in 1470.
Works on religious and mythological themes (early works)
Botticelli was close to the court Medici and humanist circles in Florence. And this had great value, because The Medici, an oligarchic family, are known as philanthropists of the most outstanding artists and Renaissance architects. Representatives of this family from the XIII to the XVIII centuries. repeatedly became rulers of Florence.
From the works of S. Botticelli of the second half of the 15th century. I would like to highlight a few.
S. Botticelli. Diptych about the story of Judith
Judith- Old Testament character, a Jewish widow who saved her hometown from the invasion of the Assyrians. Judith is considered a symbol of the struggle of the Jews against their oppressors, a symbol of patriotism. When Assyrian troops besieged her hometown, she dressed up and went to the enemy camp, where she attracted the attention of the commander. When he fell asleep, she cut off his head with a sharp sword, calmly walked past the sleeping warriors and returned to her saved hometown.
The diptych consists of 2 paintings: “The Return of Judith” and “The Finding of the Body of Holofernes.”
It is the scene of the return of Judith that Botticelli depicts in this painting.
S. Botticelli “The Return of Judith” (1472-1473)
Judith is accompanied by her maid. The girl holds a huge sword in her hand, her face is concentrated and sad, her feet are bare, she walks home with a decisive step - the maid can barely keep up with her fast step, holding with her hand the basket in which the head of King Holofernes is located.
Botticelli does not show Judith as a beautiful and seductive girl (as many artists depicted her), he gives preference to the heroic moment in Judith’s life.
S. Botticelli “Saint Sebastian” (1474)
Sebastian (Sebastian)- Roman legionnaire, Christian saint, revered as a martyr. He was the chief of the Praetorian Guard under the emperors Diocletian and Maximian. He secretly professed Christianity. Two of his friends (brothers Mark and Markellinus) were condemned to death for their faith in Christ. Relatives and wives of the condemned begged them to renounce their faith and save their lives, and at one point Mark and Marcellinus began to hesitate, but Sebastian came to support the condemned; his speech inspired the brothers and convinced them to remain faithful to Christianity. Those who heard Sebastian saw seven angels and a Young Man, who blessed Sebastian and said: “You will always be with Me.”
Sebastian was arrested and interrogated, after which Emperor Diocletian ordered him to be taken outside the city, tied and pierced with arrows. Thinking he was dead, the executioners left him lying alone, but none of his vital organs were damaged by the arrows, and his wounds, although deep, were not fatal. A widow named Irina came at night to bury him, but discovered that he was alive and took him out. Many Christians persuaded Sebastian to flee Rome, but he refused and appeared before the emperor with new proof of his faith. By order of Diocletian, he was stoned to death, and his body was thrown into the Great Cloaca. The saint appeared in a dream to the Christian woman Lukina and ordered her to take his body and bury him in the catacombs, and the woman fulfilled this command.
In Botticelli's painting, Sebastian is calm, he is not afraid of death; it seems that the arrows pierced into his body do not bother the hero at all. He carried his faith patiently and humbly through all his suffering.
S. Botticelli “Adoration of the Magi” (c. 1475). Uffizi Gallery (Florence)
In the image of the Magi, Botticelli depicted three members of the Medici family: Cosimo the Elder, kneeling before the Virgin Mary, and his sons Piero di Cosimo (the kneeling Magus in a red robe in the center of the picture) and Giovanni di Cosimo next to him. By the time the picture was painted, all three were already dead; Florence was ruled by Cosimo’s grandson, Lorenzo de’ Medici. He is also depicted in the painting along with his brother Giuliano.
The self-portrait of Botticelli himself is made in the image of a blond youth in a yellow robe at the right edge of the picture.
D. Vasari spoke about this painting in the following way: “It is impossible to describe all the beauty that Sandro put into the image of heads turned in a wide variety of positions - now in front, now in profile, now in a half-turn, now, finally, bowed, and something else.” Otherwise, it is also impossible to describe all the diversity in facial expressions of young men and old men with all the deviations by which one can judge the perfection of his skill, because even in the retinues of three kings he contributed so much distinctive features, that it is easy to understand who serves one and who serves the other. Truly this work is a greatest miracle, and it was brought to such perfection in color, design and composition that every artist is amazed by it to this day.”
At this time, Botticelli painted wonderful portraits.
S. Botticelli “Portrait of an unknown man with a medal of Cosimo de’ Medici the Elder” (c. 1475). Uffizi (Florence)
The picture is painted on a wooden board with tempera. A technique unique to the Renaissance was used: a round niche was made in the board into which a pastilla was inserted - a copy of a medal cast in honor of Cosimo de' Medici around 1465, sculpted from plaster and covered with gold paint.
The artist’s innovation lies in the fact that he depicted the young man almost from the front (previously they depicted the chest strictly in profile), with clearly drawn arms (this had not been done before) and with a landscape in the background (previously the background was neutral).
S. Botticelli “Portrait of a Young Woman” (1476-1480). Berlin gallery
Botticelli creates this portrait in accordance with the principles of F. Lippi, his teacher - he returns to a strict profile with an elegant silhouette and a rigid frame, niche or window. The portrait is idealized, close to a collective image.
Who was the model? It is difficult to give an answer. And the assumptions are: Simonetta Vespucci ( secret love and model of Botticelli and lover of Giuliano de' Medici); mother or wife of Lorenzo de' Medici (the Magnificent).
In Rome (1481-1482)
By this time Botticelli had become very famous artist not only in Florence, but also beyond. His orders were very numerous. Pope Sixtus IV, who built the chapel in his Roman palace, also wanted it to be painted by Sandro Botticelli. In 1481 Botticelli came to Rome. Together with Ghirlandaio, Rosselli and Perugino, he decorated the walls of the papal chapel in the Vatican, which is known as the Sistine Chapel, with frescoes. She will gain worldwide fame after in 1508-1512. the ceiling and altar wall will be painted by Michelangelo.
Botticelli created three frescoes for the chapel: “The Punishment of Korah, Daphne and Abiron”, “The Temptation of Christ” and “The Calling of Moses”, as well as 11 papal portraits.
S. Botticelli “The Temptation of Christ” (1482)
Three episodes from the Gospel - the temptation of Christ - are depicted in the upper part of the fresco. On the left, the devil, disguised as a hermit, persuades the fasting Jesus to turn stones into bread and satisfy his hunger. In the center, the devil tries to force Jesus to jump from the top of the Jerusalem Temple to test God's promise of angelic protection. On the right, the devil on the top of the mountain promises Jesus earthly riches and power over the world if he rejects God and worships him, the devil. Jesus sends the devil away and angels come to minister to the Son of God.
In the foreground, a young man cured of leprosy comes to the high priest of the Temple to declare his cleansing. In his hands is a sacrificial cup and sprinkler. The high priest symbolizes Moses, who brought the law, and the young man represents Jesus, who shed his blood and gave his life for the sake of humanity, and was later resurrected.
Some foreground figures are portraits of the author's contemporaries.
Botticelli's paintings of secular themes
Botticelli's most famous and most mysterious work is “Spring” (“Primavera”).
S. Botticelli “Spring” (1482). Uffizi Gallery (Florence)
The painting depicts a clearing in an orange orchard, all strewn with flowers. Flowers, according to botanists, are reproduced with photographic accuracy, but among them are not only spring flowers, but also summer and even winter flowers.
Three characters of the first group: the god of the west wind Zephyr, he is pursuing Chloris, depicted at the moment of transformation into Flora - flowers are already flying out of her mouth; the goddess of flowers herself, Flora, scatters roses with a generous hand.
The central group is formed alone by Venus, the goddess of gardens and love. Above Venus is Cupid, blindfolded, pointing an arrow at the middle Harita.
To the left of Venus there is a group of three Haritas who dance holding hands.
The last group is formed by Mercury with his attributes: helmet, winged sandals. Botticelli depicted him as a garden guard with a sword.
All the characters hardly touch the ground, they seem to float above it.
There are many interpretations of the painting. They can be divided into philosophical, mythological, religious, historical and exotic.
Around 1485 Botticelli creates another famous painting"Birth of Venus"
S. Botticelli “Birth of Venus” (1482). Uffizi (Florence)
It is believed that the model for Venus was Simonetta Vespucci.
The picture illustrates the myth of the birth of Venus (Greek: Aphrodite. Read in the article “Olympic Gods”). A naked goddess swims to the shore in the shell of a shell, driven by the wind. On the left side of the painting, Zephyr (the west wind), in the arms of his wife Chloris (Roman Flora), blows on a shell, creating a wind filled with flowers. On the shore, the goddess is met by one of the graces.
The pose of Venus clearly shows the influence of classical greek sculpture. Body proportions are based on the canon of harmony and beauty.
The work of Sandro Botticelli is distinguished by a special melodiousness of line in each of his paintings, a sense of rhythm and harmony, but they are especially clearly expressed in his “Spring” and “Birth of Venus”. The artist never used stencil techniques, so his paintings also excite the modern viewer.
Religious paintings by S. Botticelli from the 1480s
Botticelli's religious works of this time are supreme creative achievements painter.
"Madonna Magnificat"(1481-1485) became famous during the artist’s lifetime. The painting depicts the Coronation of the Mother of God by two angels in the guise of youths. Three other angels hold an open book in front of her, in which Mary writes a doxology beginning with the words: Magnificat anima mea Dominum (“My soul magnifies the Lord”). On Mary's lap is the baby Jesus, and in her left hand she holds a pomegranate, a symbol of God's mercy.
Late works of Sandro Botticelli
In the 1490s, the artist was in a difficult moral state. The death of Lorenzo the Magnificent, the capture of Florence by French troops and the apocalyptic views of Savonarola, with whom Botticelli sympathized, all had a strong impact on his consciousness. His paintings of this period are full of drama, melancholy and hopelessness (“Abandoned”, “Mourning of Christ”, “Slander”, etc.).
S. Botticelli “Abandoned” (c. 1495). Rome, Pallavicini collection
The lonely young woman is depicted in great grief and confusion. A crouched figure against the backdrop of a blank wall - and there is nothing else in this extraordinary and strange picture. Who is this woman? Her face could explain something to us, but her face is just not visible. Worn dresses hint at a long, lonely and hopeless journey. Shirts are spread out on the steps like corpses... “Abandoned” has so many meanings that true meaning it is broader than any specific plot.
S. Botticelli “Lamentation of Christ” (1495)
Three Marys and John the Theologian bowed in grief over the lifeless body of Christ. All day they stood at the cross, watching his torment and death. Joseph from Arimathea came to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered the body to be handed over. Joseph is depicted with a crown of thorns in his hand. Taking the body, Joseph wrapped it in a clean shroud and laid it in his new coffin, which he carved into the rock - in the coffin that Joseph, anticipating his own death, prepared for himself.
Botticelli placed all the figures very close to each other and at the edges of the picture. They seem to form a cross and unity over the body of Christ.
John the Theologian clung to the Virgin Mary, because Christ bequeathed to his beloved disciple to treat her as a mother. Mary Magdalene hugs the feet, and Mary, the mother of James the Younger, the head of Christ...
Botticelli died on May 17, 1510. He was buried in the cemetery of the Church of All Saints in Florence.
Botticelli's work vividly embodies the features of sublime poetry, sophistication, sophistication, spirituality, and beauty. This is one of the most emotional and lyrical artists of the Renaissance.
Botticelli Sandro [actually Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi] (1445, Florence - May 17, 1510, Florence), Italian painter of the Early Renaissance, representative of the Florentine school. Sandro Botticelli is one of the most bright artists Italian Renaissance. He created allegorical images captivating in their sublimity and gave the world an ideal female beauty. Born into the family of leather tanner Mariano di Vanni Filipepi; The nickname “Botticello” - “barrel” - was inherited from his older brother Giovanni. Among the first information about the artist is an entry in the cadastre of 1458, made by his father about his ill health. youngest son. After completing his studies, Botticelli became an apprentice in the jewelry workshop of his brother Antonio, but did not stay there for long and around 1464 he became an apprentice to the monk Fra Filippo Lippi from the monastery of Carmine, one of the most famous artists of that time.
The style of Filippo Lippi had a huge influence on Botticelli, manifested mainly in certain types of faces (in a three-quarter turn), decorative and ornamental patterns of draperies, hands, a penchant for detail and a soft, lightened color, in its “waxy” glow. There is no exact information about the period of Botticelli's studies with Filippo Lippi and about their personal relationships, but it can be assumed that they got along well with each other, since a few years later Lippi's son became Botticelli's student. Their collaboration continued until 1467, when Filippo moved to Spoleto and Botticelli opened his workshop in Florence. In the works of the late 1460s, the fragile, flat linearity and grace adopted from Filippo Lippi are replaced by a more voluminous interpretation of figures. Around the same time, Botticelli began using ocher shadows to convey flesh tones, a technique that became a prominent feature of his style. Early works Sandro Botticelli is characterized by a clear construction of space, clear cut-and-shadow modeling, and interest in everyday details (“Adoration of the Magi”, circa 1474–1475, Uffizi).
From the end of the 1470s, after Botticelli’s rapprochement with the court of the Medici rulers of Florence and the circle of Florentine humanists, the features of aristocracy and sophistication intensified in his work, paintings on ancient and allegorical themes appeared, in which sensual pagan images are imbued with the sublime and at the same time poetic, lyrical spirituality (“Spring”, circa 1477–1478, “Birth of Venus”, circa 1482–1483, both in the Uffizi). The animation of the landscape, the fragile beauty of the figures, the musicality of light, trembling lines, the transparency of exquisite colors, as if woven from reflexes, create in them an atmosphere of dreaminess and slight sadness.
The artist’s easel portraits (portrait of a man with a medal, 1474, Uffizi Gallery, Florence; portrait of Giuliano Medici, 1470s, Bergamo; and others) are characterized by a combination of subtle nuances of the internal state human soul and clear detailing of the characters portrayed. Thanks to the Medici, Botticelli became closely acquainted with the ideas of humanists (a significant number of them were part of the Medici circle, a kind of elite intellectual center of Renaissance Florence), many of which were reflected in his work. For example, mythological paintings (“Pallas Athena and the Centaur”, 1482; “Venus and Mars”, 1483 and others) were, naturally, painted by the artist Botticelli at the request of the cultural elite and were intended to decorate the palazzo or villas of noble Florentine customers. Before the time of Sandro Botticelli, mythological themes in painting were found in decorative wedding decorations and objects applied arts, only occasionally becoming the subject of painting.
In 1481, Sandro Botticelli received an honorary commission from Pope Sixtus IV. The Pontiff had just completed the construction of the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican Palace and wished that best artists decorated it with their frescoes. Along with the most famous masters of monumental painting of that time - Perugino, Cosimo Rossellini, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Pinturicchino and Signorelli - Botticelli was also invited at the direction of the pope. In the frescoes executed by Sandro Botticelli in 1481–1482 Sistine Chapel in the Vatican (“Scenes from the Life of Moses”, “The Punishment of Korah, Dathan and Abiron”, “The Healing of the Leper and the Temptation of Christ”), the majestic harmony of landscape and ancient architecture is combined with internal plot tension, poignancy portrait characteristics. In all three frescoes, the artist masterfully solved the problem of presenting a complex theological program in clear, light and lively dramatic scenes; this makes full use of compositional effects.
Botticelli returned to Florence in the summer of 1482, perhaps due to the death of his father, but most likely on business in his own busy workshop. Between 1480 and 1490, his fame reached its apogee, and he began to receive such a huge number of orders that it was almost impossible to cope with them himself, so most of The paintings “Madonna and Child” were completed by his students, who diligently, but not always brilliantly, copied the style of their master. During these years, Sandro Botticelli painted for the Medici several frescoes at the Villa Spedaletto in Volterra (1483–84), a painting for the altar niche in the Bardi Chapel at the Church of Santo Spirito (1485) and several allegorical frescoes at the Villa Lemmi. The magical grace, beauty, richness of imagination and brilliant execution inherent in paintings on mythological themes are also present in several of Botticelli's famous altarpieces painted during the 1480s. Among the best are the Bardi altarpiece with the image of the Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist (1485) and the “Annunciation by Cestello” (1489–1490, Uffizi).
In the 1490s, during the era of social unrest and mystical-ascetic sermons of the monk Savonarola that shook Florence, notes of drama, moralizing and religious exaltation appeared in Botticelli’s art (“Lamentation of Christ”, after 1490, Poldi Pezzoli Museum, Milan; “Slander” , after 1495, Uffizi). The sharp contrasts of bright color spots, the internal tension of the drawing, the dynamics and expression of the images indicate an extraordinary change in the artist’s worldview - towards greater religiosity and even a kind of mysticism. However, his drawings for “ Divine Comedy” Dante (1492–1497, Engraving Cabinet, Berlin, and Vatican Library) with acute emotional expressiveness, they retain lightness of line and Renaissance clarity of images.
In the last years of the artist’s life, his fame was declining: the era of new art was coming and, accordingly, new fashion and new tastes. In 1505, he became a member of the city committee, which was supposed to determine the location of the installation of the statue of Michelangelo - his “David”, but other than this fact, other information about the last years of Botticelli’s life is unknown. It is noteworthy that when in 1502 Isabella d'Este was looking for a Florentine artist for herself and Botticelli agreed to the work, she rejected his services. Vasari in his Lives... painted a depressing picture recent years the artist's life, describing him as a poor man, "old and useless", unable to stand on his feet without the help of crutches. Most likely, the image of a completely forgotten and poor artist is the creation of Vasari, who was prone to extremes in the biographies of artists.
Sandro Botticelli died in 1510; This is how the Quattrocento ended - this happiest era in Florentine art. Botticelli died at the age of 65 and was buried in the cemetery of the Florentine Church of Ognissanti. Until the 19th century, when his work was rediscovered by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti and art critics Walter Pater and John Ruskin, his name was virtually forgotten to art history. In Botticelli they saw something akin to the preferences of their era - spiritual grace and melancholy, “sympathy for humanity in its unstable states,” traits of morbidity and decadence. The next generation of researchers of Botticelli's painting, for example Herbert Horn, who wrote in the first decades of the 20th century, discerned something different in it - the ability to convey the plasticity and proportions of a figure - that is, signs of an energetic language characteristic of the art of the early Renaissance. We have quite different estimates. What defines Botticelli's art? The 20th century has done a lot to bring us closer to understanding it. The master’s paintings were organically included in the context of his time, connecting with artistic life, literature and humanistic ideas of Florence. Botticelli's painting, attractive and mysterious, is in tune with the worldview not only of the early Renaissance, but also of our time.
Botticelli Sandro [actually Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi] (1445, Florence - May 17, 1510, Florence), the great Italian painter of the Early Renaissance, a representative of the Florentine school. Sandro Botticelli is one of the most prominent artists of the Italian Renaissance. He created allegorical images that were captivating in their sublimity and gave the world the ideal of female beauty. Born into the family of leather tanner Mariano di Vanni Filipepi; The nickname “Botticello” - “barrel” - was inherited from his older brother Giovanni.
Among the first information about the artist is an entry in the cadastre of 1458, made by a father about the ill health of his youngest son. After completing his studies, Botticelli became an apprentice in the jewelry workshop of his brother Antonio, but did not stay there for long and around 1464 he became an apprentice to the monk Fra Filippo Lippi from the monastery of Carmine, one of the most famous artists of that time.
The style of Filippo Lippi had a huge influence on the young artist, manifested mainly in certain types of faces (in a three-quarter turn), decorative and ornamental patterns of draperies, hands, a penchant for detail and a soft, lightened color, in its “waxy” glow. There is no exact information about the period of Botticelli's studies with Filippo Lippi and about their personal relationships, but it can be assumed that they got along well with each other, since a few years later Lippi's son became Botticelli's student. Their collaboration continued until 1467, when Filippo moved to Spoleto and Sandro opened his workshop in Florence.
In the works of the late 1460s, the fragile, flat linearity and grace adopted by the young painter from Filippo Lippi are replaced by a more voluminous interpretation of figures. Around the same time, Botticelli began using ocher shadows to convey flesh tones, a technique that became a prominent feature of his style. Early works are characterized by a clear construction of space, clear cut-off modeling, and interest in everyday details (“Adoration of the Magi,” circa 1474–1475, Uffizi).
From the end of the 1470s, after the artist’s rapprochement with the court of the Medici rulers of Florence and the circle of Florentine humanists, the features of aristocracy and sophistication intensified in his work, paintings on ancient and allegorical themes appeared, in which sensual pagan images are imbued with the sublime and at the same time poetic, lyrical spirituality (“Spring”, circa 1477–1478, “Birth of Venus”, circa 1482–1483, both in the Uffizi). The animation of the landscape, the fragile beauty of the figures, the musicality of light, trembling lines, the transparency of exquisite colors, as if woven from reflexes, create in them an atmosphere of dreaminess and slight sadness.
The artist’s easel portraits (portrait of a man with a medal, 1474, Uffizi Gallery, Florence; portrait of Giuliano Medici, 1470s, Bergamo; and others) are characterized by a combination of subtle nuances of the internal state of the human soul and clear detailing of the characters of those portrayed. Thanks to the Medici, Botticelli became closely acquainted with the ideas of humanists (a significant number of them were part of the Medici circle, a kind of elite intellectual center of Renaissance Florence), many of which were reflected in his work. For example, mythological paintings (“Pallas Athena and the Centaur”, 1482; “Venus and Mars”, 1483 and others) were, naturally, painted by the artist at the request of the cultural elite and were intended to decorate the palazzo or villas of noble Florentine customers. Before the time of Sandro Botticelli’s work, mythological themes in painting were found in decorative wedding decorations and objects of applied art, only occasionally becoming the object of painting.
In 1481, Sandro Botticelli received an honorary commission from Pope Sixtus IV. The Pontiff had just completed the construction of the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican Palace and wanted the best artists to decorate it with their frescoes. Along with the most famous masters of monumental painting of that time - Perugino, Cosimo Rossellini, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Pinturicchino and Signorelli - Botticelli was also invited at the direction of the pope. In the frescoes executed by the painter in 1481–1482 in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican (“Scenes from the life of Moses”, “The Punishment of Korah, Dathan and Abiron”, “The Healing of the Leper and the Temptation of Christ”), the majestic harmony of landscape and ancient architecture is combined with internal plot tension , sharpness of portrait characteristics. In all three frescoes, the artist masterfully solved the problem of presenting a complex theological program in clear, light and lively dramatic scenes; this makes full use of compositional effects.
Botticelli returned to Florence in the summer of 1482, perhaps due to the death of his father, but most likely on business in his own busy workshop. In the period between 1480 and 1490, his fame reached its apogee, and he began to receive such a huge number of orders that it was almost impossible to cope with them himself, so most of the Madonna and Child paintings were completed by his students, diligently, but not always brilliantly who copied the style of their master. During these years, Botticelli painted several frescoes for the Medici at the Villa Spedaletto in Volterra (1483–84), a painting for the altar niche in the Bardi Chapel at the Church of Santo Spirito (1485) and several allegorical frescoes at the Villa Lemmi. The magical grace, beauty, richness of imagination and brilliant execution inherent in paintings on mythological themes are also present in several of Botticelli's famous altarpieces painted during the 1480s. Among the best are the Bardi altarpiece with the image of the Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist (1485) and the “Annunciation by Cestello” (1489–1490, Uffizi).
In the 1490s, during the era of social unrest and mystical-ascetic sermons of the monk Savonarola that shook Florence, notes of drama, moralizing and religious exaltation appeared in Botticelli’s art (“Lamentation of Christ”, after 1490, Poldi Pezzoli Museum, Milan; “Slander” , after 1495, Uffizi). The sharp contrasts of bright color spots, the internal tension of the drawing, the dynamics and expression of the images indicate an extraordinary change in the artist’s worldview - towards greater religiosity and even a kind of mysticism. However, his drawings for Dante’s “Divine Comedy” (1492–1497, Engraving Cabinet, Berlin, and the Vatican Library), with acute emotional expressiveness, retain lightness of line and Renaissance clarity of images.
Fragments of paintings and frescoes by the artist
In the last years of the artist’s life, his fame was declining: the era of new art was coming and, accordingly, new fashion and new tastes. In 1505, he became a member of the city committee, which was supposed to determine the location of the installation of the statue by Michelangelo - his “David”, but other than this fact, other information about the last years of Botticelli’s life is unknown. It is noteworthy that when in 1502 Isabella d'Este was looking for a Florentine artist for herself and Botticelli agreed to the work, she rejected his services. Vasari in his Lives painted a depressing picture of the last years of the artist’s life, describing him as a poor man, “ old and useless”, unable to stand on his feet without the help of crutches. Most likely, the image of a completely forgotten and poor artist is the creation of Vasari, who was prone to extremes in the lives of artists.
Sandro Botticelli died in 1510; This is how the Quattrocento ended - this happiest era in Florentine art. The great painter died at the age of 65 and was buried in the cemetery of the Florentine church of Ognissanti. Until the 19th century, when his work was rediscovered by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti and art critics Walter Pater and John Ruskin, his name was virtually forgotten to art history. In Botticelli’s work, the Pre-Raphaelites saw something akin to the preferences of their era - spiritual grace and melancholy, “sympathy for humanity in its unstable states,” traits of morbidity and decadence. The next generation of researchers of Botticelli's painting, for example Herbert Horn, who wrote in the first decades of the 20th century, discerned something else in it - the ability to convey the plasticity and proportions of the figure - that is, signs of an energetic language characteristic of the art of the early Renaissance. We have quite different estimates. What defines the art of the great Florentine of the Quattrocento period? The 20th century has done a lot to bring us closer to understanding it. The master’s paintings were organically included in the context of his time, connecting them with the artistic life, literature and humanistic ideas of Florence. Botticelli's painting, attractive and mysterious, is in tune with the worldview not only of the early Renaissance, but also of our time.
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