Sandro Botticelli

Sandro Botticelli (real name Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi; 1445-1510) - Italian painter, one of the brightest masters of the Renaissance, a representative of the Florentine school of painting. The author of the paintings "Spring", "Venus and Mars" and which brought him worldwide popularity "The Birth of Venus".

There are many interesting facts in the biography of Botticelli, which we will talk about in this article.

So, before you is a short biography of Sandro Botticelli.

Biography of Botticelli

Sandro Botticelli was born on March 1, 1445 in Florence. He grew up and was brought up in the family of the tanner Mariano di Giovanni Filipepi and his wife Smeralda. He was the youngest of four sons to his parents.

Sandro's biographers still have no consensus about the origin of his surname. According to one version, he received the nickname "Botticelli" (keg) from his older brother Giovanni, who was a fat man. According to the other, it is associated with the trading activities of the 2 older brothers.

Sandro did not immediately become an artist. In his youth, he studied jewelry for a couple of years with the master Antonio. By the way, some experts suggest that the guy got his last name from him.

In the early 1460s, Botticelli began studying painting with Fra Filippo Lippi. For 5 years, he studied painting, carefully observing the technique of the teacher, who combined the three-dimensional transfer of volumes to a plane.

After that, Andrea Verrocchio was Sandro's mentor. An interesting fact is that Verrocchio's apprentice was Leonardo da Vinci, still unknown to anyone. After 2 years, Botticelli began to independently create his masterpieces.

Painting

When Sandro was about 25 years old he started his own workshop. His first significant work was called The Allegory of Power (1470), which he wrote for the local Merchant Court. At this time in his biography, Botticelli's pupil Filippino appears - the son of his former teacher.

Sandro wrote many canvases with Madonnas, among which the most popular was the work "Madonna of the Eucharist". By that time, he had already developed his own style: a bright palette and the transfer of skin tones through rich ocher shadows.

In his paintings, Botticelli managed to vividly and succinctly show the drama of the plot, endowing the depicted characters with feelings and movement. All this can be seen on the early canvases of the Italian, including the diptych - "The Return of Judith" and "Finding the Body of Holofernes".

The half-naked figure Sandro first depicted in the painting "Saint Sebastian", which was solemnly placed in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in 1474. The following year he presented the famous work "Adoration of the Magi", where he depicted himself.

During this period of his biography, Botticelli became famous as a talented portrait painter. The most famous paintings of the master in this genre are "Portrait of an Unknown Man with the Cosimo Medici Medal", as well as a number of portraits of Giuliano Medici and local girls.

The fame of the talented artist has spread far beyond the borders of Florence. He received many orders, as a result of which Pope Sixtus IV learned about him. The leader of the Catholic Church entrusted him to paint his own chapel in the Roman palace.

In 1481, Sandro Botticelli arrived in Rome, where he set to work. Other famous painters also worked with him, including Ghirlandaio, Rosselli and Perugino.

Sandro painted part of the walls of the Sistine Chapel. He became the author of 3 frescoes: "The Punishment of Korea, Dathan and Aviron", "The Temptation of Christ" and "The Calling of Moses".

In addition, he painted 11 papal portraits. It is curious that when Michelangelo painted the ceiling and the altar wall at the beginning of the next century, the Sistine Chapel would become world famous.

After finishing work at the Vatican, Botticelli returned home. In 1482 he created the famous and mysterious painting "Spring". The artist's biographers claim that this masterpiece was written under the influence of the ideas of Neoplatonism.

"Spring" still has no clear interpretation. It is believed that the storyline of the canvas was invented by an Italian after reading the poem "On the Nature of Things" by Lucretius.

This work, as well as two other masterpieces by Sandro Botticelli - "Pallas and the Centaur" and "The Birth of Venus", was owned by Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco Medici. Critics note in these canvases the harmony and plasticity of lines, as well as musical expression expressed in subtle nuances.

The painting "The Birth of Venus", which is the most famous work of Botticelli, deserves special attention. It was painted on a 172.5 x 278.5 cm canvas. The canvas illustrates the myth of the birth of the goddess Venus (Greek Aphrodite).

Around the same time, Sandro painted his equally famous love-themed painting Venus and Mars. It was written on wood (69 x 173 cm). Today this work of art is kept in the London National Gallery.

Later Botticelli began to work on illustrating Dante's Divine Comedy. In particular, of the few surviving drawings, the image “The Abyss of Hell” has survived. Over the years of his creative biography, the man wrote many religious paintings, including "Madonna and Child Enthroned", "Annunciation of Chestello", "Madonna with a Pomegranate", etc.

In the years 1490-1500. Sandro Botticelli was influenced by the Dominican monk Girolamo Savonarola, who called people to repentance and righteousness. Imbued with the ideas of the Dominican, the Italian changed his artistic style. The range of colors became more restrained, and dark tones prevailed on the canvases.

Savonarola's accusation of heresy and his execution in 1498 shocked Botticelli greatly. This led to the fact that more gloom was added to his work.

In 1500, the genius wrote "Mystical Christmas" - the last significant painting by Sandro. An interesting fact is that it became the only work of the painter that was dated and signed by the author. Among other things, the inscription stated the following:

“I, Alessandro, painted this picture in 1500 in Italy in half the time after the time when what was said in the 11th chapter of the Revelation of John the Theologian about the second mountain of the Apocalypse, at the time when the devil was released for 3.5 years ... Then he was shackled in accordance with the 12th chapter, and we will see him (trampled on the ground), as in this picture. "

Personal life

Almost nothing is known about Botticelli's personal biography. He never married or had children. Many experts believe that the man loved a girl named Simonetta Vespucci, the first beauty of Florence and the beloved of Giuliano Medici.

Simonetta acted as a model for many of Sandro's canvases, dying at the age of 23.

Death

In the last years of his life, the master left art and lived in extreme poverty. If not for the help of friends, then he probably would have died of hunger. Sandro Botticelli died on May 17, 1510 at the age of 65.