Sandro Botticelli: lover of classic mythology

Adoration of the Magi, Botticelli, 1475

Primavera, Botticelli, 1482

Suspected self-portrait of Botticelli in Adoration of the Magi

          Alessandro Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli (1444-1510), was born in Florence.  He was trained by Fra Filippo Lippi and rose to the inner circle of the city's artists, the Compagnia di San Luca.  His patrons were connected to the Medicis and decorated mostly religious buildings.  He joined other artists at the Pope Sixtus IV's request to decorate the walls of the newly created Roman Sistine Chapel in 1480. During this decade Botticelli painted some of his finest works, characterized by their rich colors and flowing curves.  However, after Lorenzo de’ Medici died in 1492 and the takeover of the Dominican monk Savonarola, who despised Renaissance culture, Florence began its decline.  Botticelli’s artwork changed significantly over this period.  Harder, more emotional paintings with religious emphasis succeeded his smooth, peaceful works.  His last project was creating a set of illustrations for Dante’s Divine Comedy, but died before its completion.  

The Birth of Venus, Botticelli, 1486

          Botticelli’s artwork can be divided into two themes: mythological depictions and religious imagery.  His most famous religious painting is Adoration of the Magi (1476), which features three foreign kings and their followers paying homage to an infant Jesus.  He was praised for the detailed faces of the followers, which included his own along with those of five members of the Medici family.  Primavera (1882) and The Birth of Venus (1886) are Botticelli’s other two prominent paintings.  These two paintings were intended to be placed next to each other and show the Renaissance themes of love and classical interest.  The Birth of Venus was controversial because of Venus’s nudity, but the relaxation of previous artistic norms defined the period.  Botticelli accurately shows how Christians directed the age of acceptance toward classic Greek and Roman figures.  Inserting nudity, pagan gods, and even people from the current age into paintings of the past demonstrates the greater creativity and toleration of the age.