Sandro Botticelli (b.1445, Firenze d. 1510)
Sandro Botticelli's original name was Alessandro di Mariano
Filipepi. Botticelli was a Florentine Renaissance painter whose Birth of Venus (c. 1485)
and Primavera (1477-78) are often said to epitomize for modern viewers the spirit of the
Renaissance. His ecclesiastical commissions included work for all the major churches of
Florence and for the Sistine Chapel in Rome. His name is derived from his elder brother
Giovanni, a pawnbroker, who was called Il Botticello.
Although he was one of the most individual painters of the Italian Renaissance, Sandro
Botticelli remained little known for centuries after his death. Then his work was
rediscovered late in the 19th century by a group of artists in England known as the
Pre-Raphaelites.
Botticelli was apprenticed to a goldsmith. Later he was a pupil of the painter Fra Filippo
Lippi. He spent all his life in Florence except for a visit to Rome in 1481-82. There he
painted wall frescoes in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican. There he painted The Youth of
Moses, the Punishment of the Sons of Corah, and the Temptation of Christ. Botticelli
developed a highly personal style characterized by elegant execution, a sense of
melancholy, and a strong emphasis on line; details appear as sumptuous still lifes.
In Florence, Botticelli was a protege of several members of the powerful Medici family. He
painted portraits of the family and many religious pictures, including the famous The
Adoration of the Magi. The most original of his paintings are those illustrating Greek and
Roman legends.
Famous Works: