Sandro Botticelli (Italian: Sandro Botticelli, real name Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi (Italian: Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi; March 1, 1445 - May 17, 1510) - a great Italian painter of the Renaissance, a representative of the Florentine school of painting.
Botticelli was born into the family of tanner Mariano di Giovanni Filipepi and his wife Smeralda in the Santa Maria Novella quarter of Florence. The nickname “Botticelli” (barrel) came to him from his older brother Giovanni, who was a fat man.
Botticelli did not come to painting right away: at first he was an apprentice to the goldsmith Antonio for two years (there is a version that the young man received his surname from him). In 1462 he began to study painting with Fra Filippo Lippi, in whose studio he stayed for five years. In connection with Lippi's departure to Spoleto, he moved to the workshop of Andrea Verrocchio.
Botticelli's first independent works - several images of Madonnas - in their manner of execution demonstrate closeness to the works of Lippi and Masaccio, the most famous are: “Madonna and Child, Two Angels and Young John the Baptist” (1465-1470), “Madonna and Child and Two Angels” ( 1468-1470), “Madonna in the Rose Garden” (circa 1470), “Madonna of the Eucharist” (circa 1470).
From 1470 he had his own workshop near the Church of All Saints. The painting "Allegory of Force" (Fortitude), painted in 1470, marks the discovery of Botticelli own style. In 1470-1472 he wrote a diptych about the story of Judith: “The Return of Judith” and “The Finding of the Body of Holofernes.”
In 1472, the name Botticelli was first mentioned in the Red Book of the Company of St. Luke. It also states that his student is Filippino Lippi.
At the festival in honor of the saint on January 20, 1474, the painting “Saint Sebastian” was placed with great solemnity on one of the pillars in the Florentine church of Santa Maria Maggiore, which explains its elongated format.
Around 1475, the painter painted the famous painting “The Adoration of the Magi” for the wealthy townsman Gaspare del Lama, in which, in addition to representatives of the Medici family, he also depicted himself. Vasari wrote: “Truly this work is the greatest miracle, and it is brought to such perfection in color, design and composition that every artist is amazed by it to this day.”
At this time, Botticelli became famous as a portrait painter. The most significant are the “Portrait of an Unknown Man with a Cosimo Medici Medal” (1474-1475), as well as portraits of Giuliano Medici and Florentine ladies.
In 1476, Simonetta Vespucci dies, according to a number of researchers, the secret love and model of a number of paintings by Botticelli, who never married.
Botticelli's quickly spreading fame went beyond the borders of Florence. Since the late 1470s, the artist has received numerous orders. “And then he won for himself... in Florence and beyond its borders such fame that Pope Sixtus IV, who built a chapel in his Roman palace and wanted to paint it, ordered him to be put in charge of the work.”
In 1481, Pope Sixtus IV summoned Botticelli to Rome. Together with Ghirlandaio, Rosselli and Perugino, Botticelli decorated the walls of the Papal Chapel in the Vatican, which is known as the Sistine Chapel, with frescoes. After Michelangelo painted the ceiling and altar wall under Julius II in 1508-1512, it will gain worldwide fame.
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.
Botticelli attended the Platonic Academy of Lorenzo the Magnificent, where he met Ficino, Pico and Poliziano, thereby falling under the influence of Neoplatonism, which was reflected in his paintings of secular themes.
Botticelli's most famous and most mysterious work is “Spring” (Primavera) (1482).
The painting together with “Pallas and the Centaur” (1482-1483) by Botticelli and “Madonna and Child” unknown author was intended to decorate the Florentine palace of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco, a representative of the Medici family.
The painter was inspired to create the painting, in particular, by a fragment from Lucretius’ poem “On the Nature of Things”:
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Sandro Botticelli born in 1445 in Florence. In a family of four sons, he was the youngest. By profession, Mariano was a tanner. He and his family lived in the Santa Maria Novella quarter on Via Nuova. In the house that belonged to Rucellai, he rented an apartment. Being the owner of a workshop near the Santa Trinita in Oltrarno bridge, he was not provided for, since the business was not particularly profitable. In his dreams, the elderly Filipepi wanted to identify sons as soon as possible so that he could leave such a difficult craft.
Sandro Botticelli is the artist's pseudonym, his real name Alessandro Filipepi. But to his friends he was just Sandro. And these days there is no clear answer to the question of the origin of the nickname “ Botticelli" There is a version that this education comes from a nickname given to the older brother for raising the youngest of his sons, in order to somehow help his father. Or perhaps the nickname was born in connection with the craft of his second brother Antonio.
Be that as it may, jewelry art undoubtedly affected Botticelli’s development in his youth, because it was precisely this area that his brother Antonio pushed him into. Alessandro was sent by his father to the jeweler Botticelli. Although he was a capable and gifted student, he was restless.
Around 1464, Sandro entered the workshop of Fra Filippo Lippi from the Carmine monastery. At that time he was considered a great painter. At the age of 20 (1467), Sandro left the workshop. He was completely absorbed in painting and imitated his teacher in everything, for which he fell in love with the young man and raised his painting skills to unprecedented heights.
Although the first works completely copied the style of Fra Filippo Lippi, an extraordinary atmosphere of spirituality, with poetic images, was already visible in them.
In 1467, teacher Sandro moved to Spoleto, where he was soon overtaken by death. Craving for knowledge, Botticelli embarked on a search for a new source of artistic achievement.
Christmas / Botticelli
Christmas
He devoted some period to the workshop of Andrea Verrocchio, who was a versatile master, painter, sculptor And jeweler. He stood at the head of a team of multi-talented aspiring artists. Communication bore fruit, thus the paintings appeared “ Madonna in the Rose Garden"(circa 1470, Florence, Uffizi), as well as " Madonna and Child with two angels"(1468-1469), combining the lessons of Lippi and Verrocchio. Probably, these works were the first truly independent creations Botticelli.
The period 1467-1470 was characterized by the famous image of Sandro, called “ Altarpiece of Sant'Ambrogio" In the cadastre of 1469, Mariano reported that Sandro was working at home, from which we can conclude that by that time Botticelli was already a completely independent artist. As for the fate of the other sons, the eldest of them, being a broker, was a financial intermediary with the government. His nickname is " Botticella", which translated as "barrel" migrated to his famous brother. The Filipepi family had impressive incomes (they were owners of houses, lands, shops and vineyards) and occupied a high position in society.
So in 1970 Botticelli opened the doors of his own workshop. And approximately between July 18 and August 8, 1470, he drew the line at the work, which brought the master public recognition and popularity. The painting that depicted allegory of Strength, was addressed to the Court of Commerce. This institution was one of the most important and dealt with offenses of an economic nature.
The year 1472 was characterized by Sandro's entry into the association of artists - the Guild of St. Luke, which made it possible to legitimize the image of the artist's independent lifestyle, to acquire assistants in case of commissions not only paintings or frescoes, and also inlays, engravings, mosaics, models for “standards and other fabrics,” stained glass, book illustrations. In the first year, being a member of the artists' association Botticelli was an official student of Filippino Lippi, who was the son of the craftsman’s former teacher.
Sandro's orders mainly came from Florence. So one of his most magnificent works is the painting “ Saint Sebastian"was performed for the oldest church in the city, Santa Maria Maggiore. And on January 20, 1474 (on the feast of St. Sebastian Maggiore), the work, being the first confirmed work of Sandro, was festively placed on one of the columns of the Church of Santa Maria, which firmly established itself in the artistic panorama of Florence.
Also in 1474, after completing work on this work, the master was invited to work in another city. The Pisans' request was to paint frescoes in the Camposanto painting cycle. It was during this period of time that close contact reigned between Botticelli and the recognized rulers of Florence - members of the Medici family. This is confirmed by the work (which became a reflection of the artist’s communication with his family Medici) « Adoration of the Magi ", ordered between 1475 and 1478 by Gaspare (or Giovanni) da Zanobi Lamy (a banker close to the Medici family).
Adoration of the Magi / Botticelli
Adoration of the Magi
Special interest this picture appeals to a number of researchers, because it is on it that one can find images of a whole layer of important historical figures. However, it is worth paying attention to the remarkable compositional structure, which speaks about the artist’s level of skill at that time.
The peak of the culmination of the development of realism in the image with an increase in psychological expressiveness occurs between 1475 and 1482. The most famous paintings by Sandro (“ Primavera " And " Birth of Venus "), which were commissioned by the Medici family, became the embodiment of the cultural atmosphere characteristic of the medical circle. Historians unanimously agreed on the dates of these works: 1477-1478. In this case, the existence of Venus does not mean the experience of love in the concept of paganism, but symbolizes the humanistic ideal of spiritual love. When the soul consciously or semi-consciously rushes upward and purifies everything in its movement.
Thus, the roles of Spring are shaded with a cosmological and spiritual character. Zephyr, fertilizing, unites with Flora, thereby giving birth to Primavera, Spring as a symbol of the revitalizing forces of Nature. Blindfolded Cupid is located above Venus (the center of the composition), identified with Humanitas (the constellation of the spiritual properties of man, personifying the three Graces), Mercury, looking up, dispels the clouds with his caduceus.
Botticelli interprets the myth, which carries a special atmosphere of expressiveness: scenes of the idyll are placed against the backdrop of orange trees, which are densely intertwined with branches, subject to a single harmonic rhythm. This is achieved with the help of linear outlines of figures, draperies, dance movements, which gradually subside in the contemplative gesture of Mercury. The figures are associated with a trellis due to the clear manner of depiction against the backdrop of dull foliage.
The characteristic content of Sandro’s works is the idea of Humanitas, which means the interweaving of human spiritual properties, in most cases it is embodied in the image of Venus or sometimes Pallas-Minerva. Or interpreted differently - this idea of impeccable beauty, which carries within itself the intellectual and spiritual potential of a person, external beauty as a reflection of internal beauty, as well as a grain of universal harmony, a microcosm in a macrocosm.
Judging by the number of students and assistants who were registered in the cadastre, then in 1480 the workshop Botticelli was widely recognized. This year was also marked by Sandro's painting of "St. Augustine", located on the altar barrier in the Church of All Saints (Ognisanti). This order was carried out for the Vespuccis - a respected family of the city, which was close to the Medici.
Apocryphal texts were widely circulated, leading to the veneration of both saints in the 15th century. Sandro Botticelli worked tirelessly to be able to become the best among all the painters of that time, focusing on Domenico Ghirlandaio, who painted a different side of the image of St. Jerome. This creativity was carried out flawlessly, the face of the saint expressed the depth, subtlety and sharpness of thought, so characteristic of sages.
Lorenzo Medici in his political views he sought to reconcile with the pope and contributed to increasing the cultural ties of Florence. Thus Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Cosimo Rosselli And Domenico Ghirlandaio- On October 27, 1480, they were sent to Rome to paint the walls of the new “great chapel” of the Vatican, which was immediately erected by order of Pope Sixtus IV (which is why it got its name Sistine). By order of Sixtus IV Botticelli was appointed chief of the work, currently the master’s frescoes are considered more valuable compared to the works of other artists. The finished frescoes were installed in the fall of 1482 in the place allocated for them in the chapel not far from the works of Signorelli and Bartolomeo della Gatta that opened the cycle. Botticelli and the rest of the masters returned to Florence, where they soon experienced the loss of their father.
During the period of his greatest creative activity, Sandro had a close relationship with the court Lorenzo Medici, which led to the writing of most of the master’s most famous works in the 70-80s, commissioned by members of this family. The inspiration for the rest of the works was drawn from Poliziano's poems or was influenced by literary disputes arising among humanist scholars and friends of Lorenzo the Magnificent.
If we talk about portraits made by Botticelli, then, undoubtedly, they do not occupy such a high level in the gallery of images that are included in his compositions. Probably, this type of work was less given to the artist because of its constant need for movement and perfection of rhythm, which a chest-length portrait (characteristic of the 15th century) could not provide.
Of course, one cannot ignore the sublime nature of Sandro's realism. At least this can be traced potentially in his male portraits. In them, one can especially note as a masterpiece only “ Lorenzano" - a plexus of extraordinary vitality and a portrait young man, expressing an outstanding expression of interpretation of the formulation of love.
Slander / Botticelli
Slander
When Botticelli returned to Rome, he wrote a cycle large works on the theme of religion, containing several tondos, in which the sensitivity of the artist’s emotions was able to be fully expressed in the order of forms on the plane. The purpose of the tondo was to have a decorative function - to decorate the apartments of the Florentine nobility or as collectible works of art.
Tondo " Adoration of the Magi", which was the first known to us, has a date in the seventies. Presumably it acted as a table top in Pucci's house. The starting point is this albeit still young work, in which distorted perspectives are justified when the picture is horizontal. In it, Botticelli shows a “sophistic”, alarming and sober approach.
Examples include the following works: “ Madonna Magnificat"(1485) and " Madonna with pomegranate"(1487). The first work, with the help of a special bend of curved lines, as well as a collective circular rhythm, creates the illusion of a picture created on a convex surface. The second work, intended for the Courtroom of the Palazzo Signoria, is characterized by the use of a reverse technique, creating the effect of a concave surface.
A different mood is created in Sandro’s impressive work “ Marriage of Our Lady", dating back to 1490. So, if the years 1484-1489 were marked by Botticelli’s contentment with his works and himself, then “ Wedding"carries a completely different message - excitement of feelings, unknown anxieties and hopes. The angels are conveyed with great emotion, and the oath of St. Jerome is full of confidence and dignity.
At the same time, in this work one feels a detachment from perfection in proportions (perhaps as a result of this, the work was not so successful), the majestic tension increases, which is characteristic only of inner world heroes, there is an increase in the sharpness of color, which becomes more and more independent.
Botticelli strived to understand a greater degree of drama, which is typical for such works by the author as “ Abandoned" The subject of this work was undoubtedly rooted in the Bible - Tamar, who was driven out by Ammon. But this single historical fact, transformed into an artistic embodiment, becomes sufficient to acquire an eternal status: here are the fragile feelings of a woman, and sympathy for her loneliness, and even a dense barrier as a closed gate, as well as a dense wall that symbolizes the walls of a medieval castle.
Spring / Botticelli
Spring
In 1493, Florence is stunned by the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent. And in the Botticelli family there are even more significant events important events - brother Giovanni dies, who is buried next to his father in the cemetery. Simone (another brother) arrives from Naples, with whom the master buys a “master’s house” in San Sepolcro a Bellozguardo.
Sandro's latest works breathe an intensified religious moral disposition. Botticelli always took religion and morality very seriously, this was evident in the transformation of Lippi’s simple and traditional tune into mystical contemplation “ Madonnas of the Eucharist».
Botticelli Sandro [actually Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi] (1445, Florence - May 17, 1510, Florence), the great Italian painter of the era 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 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 inner 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 has just completed construction of the Sistine Chapel Vatican Palace and wished that the best artists would decorate it with their frescoes. Along with the most famous masters monumental painting of that time - Perugino, Cosimo Rossellini, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Pinturicchino and Signorelli - at the direction of the pope, Botticelli was also invited. In the frescoes executed by the painter in 1481–1482 in 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 and sharp 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 “ Divine Comedy“Dante (1492–1497, Engraving Cabinet, Berlin, and the Vatican Library), while maintaining the sharpness of emotional expressiveness, maintains 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 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 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 in 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 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.
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There is no painting more poetic than the painting of Sandro Botticelli (Botticelli, Sandro). The artist gained recognition due to the subtlety and expressiveness of his style. The artist’s vividly individual style is characterized by the musicality of light, tremulous lines, the transparency of cold, refined colors, the animation of the landscape, and the whimsical play of linear rhythms. He always sought to pour his soul into new pictorial forms.
Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi was born on March 1, 1445 to Mariano and Smeralda Filipepi. Like many people in the area, his father was a tanner. The first mention of Alessandro, as well as of other Florentine artists, we find in the so-called “portate al Catasto”, that is, the cadastre, where statements of income were made for taxation, which, in accordance with the decree of the Republic of 1427, the head of each Florentine state was obliged to make families. In 1458, Mariano Filipepi indicated that he had four sons: Giovanni, Antonio, Simone and thirteen-year-old Sandro, and added that Sandro was “learning to read, he is a sickly boy.” Alessandro received his nickname Botticelli (“barrel”) from his older brother. Father wanted younger son followed in the footsteps of Antonio, who had worked as a goldsmith since at least 1457, which would mark the beginning of a small but reliable family enterprise.
According to Vasari, at that time there was such a close connection between jewelers and painters that entering the workshop of one meant gaining direct access to the craft of others, and Sandro, who was fairly skilled in drawing, an art necessary for accurate and confident “blackening,” soon became interested in painting and decided to devote himself to it, without forgetting the most valuable lessons in jewelry art, in particular, clarity in drawing outlines. Around 1464, Sandro entered the workshop of Fra Filippo Lippi of the Convent of Carmine, the most excellent painter of that time, which he left in 1467 at the age of twenty-two.
Early period of creativity
The style of Filippo Lippi had a huge influence on Botticelli, manifested mainly in certain types of faces, ornamental details and color. In his works of the late 1460s, the fragile, flat linearity and grace adopted from Filippo Lippi are replaced by a more powerful interpretation of figures and a new understanding of the plasticity of volumes. Around this time, Botticelli began to use energetic ocher shadows to convey flesh color - a technique that became a characteristic feature of his style. These changes appear in their entirety in the earliest documented painting for the Merchant Court, Allegory of Power. (c.1470, Florence, Uffizi Gallery) and in a less pronounced form in two early Madonnas (Naples, Capodimonte Gallery; Boston, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum). Two famous paired compositions The Story of Judith (Florence, Uffizi), also among the master’s early works (c. 1470), illustrate another important aspect Botticelli's painting: a lively and capacious narrative, in which expression and action are combined, revealing with complete clarity the dramatic essence of the plot. They also reveal an already begun change in color, which becomes brighter and more saturated, in contrast to the pale palette of Filippo Lippi, which predominates in the early painting Botticelli - Adoration of the Magi (London, National Gallery).
Probably already in 1469 Botticelli can be considered an independent artist, since in the cadastre of the same year Mariano stated that his son worked at home. At the time of their father's death, the Filipepis owned significant property. He died in October 1469, and already in next year Sandro opened his own workshop.
In 1472, Sandro entered the Guild of St. Luke. Botticelli receives orders mainly in Florence.
The heyday of a master
In 1469, power in Florence passed to the grandson of Cosimo the Old - Lorenzo Medici, nicknamed the Magnificent. His courtyard becomes the center of Florentine culture. Lorenzo, a friend of artists and poets, himself a sophisticated poet and thinker, becomes Botticelli's patron and customer.
Among Botticelli's works, only a few have reliable dating; many of his paintings have been dated based on stylistic analysis. Some of the most famous works date back to the 1470s: St. Sebastian (1473), the earliest depiction of the nude body in the master's oeuvre; Adoration of the Magi (c.1475, Uffizi). Two portraits - a young man (Florence, Pitti Gallery) and a Florentine lady (London, Victoria and Albert Museum) - date back to the early 1470s. Somewhat later, perhaps in 1476, a portrait of Giuliano de' Medici, Lorenzo's brother, was made (Washington, National Gallery). The works of this decade demonstrate the gradual growth of Botticelli's artistic skill. He used the techniques and principles outlined in the first outstanding theoretical treatise on Renaissance painting, by Leon Battista Alberti (On Painting, 1435-1436), and experimented with perspective. By the end of the 1470s, Botticelli's works had lost the stylistic fluctuations and direct borrowings from other artists that characterized his earlier works. By this time he was already confidently mastering completely individual style: the figures of the characters acquire a strong structure, and their contours amazingly combine clarity and elegance with energy; dramatic expressiveness is achieved by combining active action and deep inner experience. All these qualities are present in the fresco of St. Augustine (Florence, Church of Ognisanti), painted in 1480 as a pair composition to Ghirlandaio’s fresco of St. Jerome. Objects surrounding St. Augustine, - a music stand, books, scientific instruments - demonstrate Botticelli's mastery of the still life genre: they are depicted with precision and clarity, revealing the artist's ability to capture the essence of form, but at the same time they do not catch the eye and do not distract from the main thing. Perhaps this interest in still life is due to the influence of Dutch painting, which aroused the admiration of the Florentines of the 15th century. Of course, Dutch art influenced Botticelli's interpretation of the landscape. Leonardo da Vinci wrote that “our Botticelli” showed little interest in landscape: “... he says that this is a waste of time, because it is enough just to throw a sponge soaked in paints on the wall, and it will leave a spot in which one can distinguish beautiful landscape" Botticelli was usually content to use conventional motifs for the backgrounds of his paintings, diversifying them with the inclusion of motifs from Netherlandish painting, such as Gothic churches, castles and walls, to achieve a romantic-picturesque effect.
The artist paints a lot on orders from Lorenzo de' Medici and his relatives. In 1475, on the occasion of the tournament, he painted a banner for Giuliano de' Medici. And once he even captured his customers in the form of Magi in the painting “Adoration of the Magi” (1475-1478). Here you can also find the artist’s first self-portrait. The most fruitful period in Botticelli's work begins. Judging by the number of his students and assistants registered in the cadastre, in 1480 Botticelli's workshop enjoyed wide recognition.
In 1481, Botticelli was invited by Pope Sixtus IV to Rome, along with Cosimo Rosselli and Ghirlandaio, to paint frescoes on the side walls of the newly built Sistine Chapel. He executed three of these frescoes: Scenes from the Life of Moses, the Healing of the Leper and the Temptation of Christ, and the Punishment of Korah, Dathan and Abyron. In all three frescoes the problem of presenting a complex theological program in clear, light and lively dramatic scenes is masterfully solved; this makes full use of compositional effects.
After returning to Florence, perhaps at the end of 1481 or beginning of 1482, Botticelli painted his famous paintings on mythological themes: Spring, Pallas and the Centaur, the Birth of Venus (all in the Uffizi) and Venus and Mars (London, National Gallery), among the most famous works Renaissance and representing genuine masterpieces of Western European art. The characters and plots of these paintings are inspired by the works of ancient poets, primarily Lucretius and Ovid, as well as mythology. They feel the influence of ancient art, a good knowledge of classical sculpture or sketches from it, which were widespread during the Renaissance. Thus, the graces from Spring go back to classical group three graces, and the pose of Venus from the Birth of Venus - to the type Venus Pudica (Bashful Venus).
Some scholars see in these paintings a visual embodiment of the main ideas of the Florentine Neoplatonists, especially Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499). However, adherents of this hypothesis ignore the sensual element in the three paintings of Venus and the glorification of purity and purity, which is undoubtedly the theme of Pallas and the Centaur. The most plausible hypothesis is that all four paintings were painted on the occasion of a wedding. They are the most remarkable surviving works of this genre of painting, which glorifies marriage and the virtues associated with the birth of love in the soul of an immaculate and beautiful bride. The same ideas are central to four compositions illustrating the story of Boccaccio Nastagio degli Onesti (located in different collections), and two frescoes (Louvre), painted around 1486 on the occasion of the marriage of the son of one of the closest associates of the Medici.
Crisis of the soul crisis of creativity
In the 1490s, Florence was experiencing political and social upheaval - the expulsion of the Medici, the short-term reign of Savonarola with his accusatory religious and mystical sermons directed against papal prestige and the wealthy Florentine patriciate.
Botticelli's soul, torn by contradictions, feeling the beauty of the world discovered by the Renaissance, but fearing its sinfulness, could not stand it. Mystical notes begin to sound in his art, nervousness and drama appear. In Cestello's Annunciation (1484-1490, Uffizi), the first signs of mannerism already appear, which gradually grew in Botticelli's later works, leading him away from the fullness and richness of nature of the mature period of creativity to a style in which the artist admires the features of his own manner. The proportions of the figures are violated to enhance psychological expressiveness. This style, in one form or another, is characteristic of Botticelli's works of the 1490s and early 1500s, even in the allegorical painting Calumny (Uffizi), in which the master exalts own work, associating him with the work of Apelles, the greatest of the ancient Greek painters
In the painting “The Wedding of Our Lady” (1490), the faces of the angels show a stern, intense obsession, and in the swiftness of their poses and gestures there is an almost Bacchic selflessness.”
After the death of the master's patron Lorenzo de' Medici (1492) and the execution of Savonarola (1498), his character finally changed. The artist abandoned not only the interpretation of humanistic themes, but also the plastic language that was previously characteristic of him. His latest paintings They are distinguished by their asceticism and laconic color scheme. His works are imbued with pessimism and hopelessness. One of famous paintings of this time, "Abandoned" (1495-1500), depicts crying woman, sitting on the steps near a stone wall with a tightly closed gate.
“The growing religious exaltation reaches tragic peaks in his two monumental “Lamentations of Christ,” writes N.A. Belousova, “where the images of Christ’s loved ones surrounding his lifeless body are full of heartbreaking sorrow. And at the same time, Botticelli’s painting style itself seems to mature Instead of fragile incorporeality - clear, generalized volumes, instead of exquisite combinations of faded shades - powerful colorful harmonies, where, in contrast with dark, harsh tones, bright spots of cinnabar and carmine red sound especially pathetic."
In 1495, the artist completed the last of his works for the Medici, painting several works for a side branch of the family at the villa in Trebbio.
In 1498, the Botticelli family, as the cadastre entry shows, owned considerable property: they had a house in the Santa Maria Novella quarter and, in addition, received income from the Villa Belsguardo, located outside the city, outside the gates of San Frediano.
After 1500, the artist rarely picked up a brush. His only signature work from the early sixteenth century is “The Mystical Nativity” (1500, London, National Gallery). The master’s attention is now focused on depicting the wonderful vision, while space performs an auxiliary function. This new trend in the relationship of figures and space is also characteristic of the illustrations to Dante's Divine Comedy, executed in pen in a magnificent manuscript.
In 1502, the artist received an invitation to go to the service of Isabella d'Este, Duchess of Mantua. However, for unknown reasons, this trip did not take place.
Although he was already an elderly man and had given up painting, his opinion continued to be taken into account. In 1504, together with Giuliano da Sangallo, Cosimo Rosselli, Leonardo da Vinci and Filippino Lippi, Botticelli participated in the commission that was to choose the location for the installation of David, just sculpted by the young Michelangelo. Filippino Lippi's solution was considered the most successful, and the marble giant was placed on the plinth in front of the Palazzo della Signoria. In the memoirs of his contemporaries, Botticelli appears as a cheerful and kind person. He kept the doors of his house open and willingly received his friends there. The artist did not hide the secrets of his skill from anyone, and he had no end to his students. Even his teacher Lippi brought his son Filippino to him.
Analysis of some works
"Judith", ca 1470
Represents a work clearly related to late creativity Lipley. This is a kind of reflection on what a feeling is. The heroine is depicted in the tremulous light of dawn after completing her feat. The breeze tugs at her dress, the agitation of the folds conceals the movement of her body, it is unclear how she maintains her balance and maintains an even posture. The artist conveys the sadness that gripped the girl, the feeling of emptiness that replaced active action. What we have before us is not some specific feeling, but a state of mind, a desire for something unclear, either in anticipation of the future, or out of regret for what has been done, consciousness of the futility, sterility of history and the melancholy dissolution of feeling in nature, which has no history, where everything happens without the help of will.
"Saint Sebastian" 1473
The figure of the saint is devoid of stability; the artist lightens and lengthens its proportions, so that the beautiful shape of the saint’s body can be compared only with the blueness of the empty sky, which seems even more inaccessible due to the remoteness of the landscape. The clear form of the body is not filled with light, the light surrounds the matter, as if dissolving it, and the line makes certain shadows and light against the sky. The artist does not extol the hero, but only feels sad about the desecrated or defeated beauty, which the world does not understand, because its source is beyond the boundaries of worldly ideas, beyond the boundaries of natural space, as well as historical time.
"Spring" c.1478
Her symbolic meaning diverse and complex, its idea can be understood in different ways. Its conceptual meaning is fully accessible only to specialist philosophers, moreover, initiates, but it is clear to everyone who is able to feel the beauty of a grove and a flowering meadow, the rhythm of figures, the attractiveness of bodies and faces, the smoothness of lines, the finest. chromatic combinations. If the meaning of conventional signs is no longer limited to recording and explaining reality, but is used to overcome and encrypt it, then what is the use of all the wealth of positive knowledge that was accumulated by Florentine painting in the first half of the century and which led to grandiose Pierrot's theoretical constructions? And therefore, perspective as a way of depicting space loses its meaning, light as a physical reality makes no sense, and there is no point in conveying density and volume as specific manifestations of materiality and space. The alternation of parallel trunks or the pattern of leaves in the background of "Spring" have nothing to do with perspective, but it is in comparison with this background, devoid of depth, that the smooth development of the linear rhythms of the figures, contrasting with the parallelism of the trunks, takes on special significance, just as subtle color transitions receive a special sound in combination with dark tree trunks that stand out sharply against the sky.
Paintings in the Sistine Chapel 1481- 1482 g
Botticelli's frescoes are painted on biblical and evangelical subjects, but are not interpreted in a “historical” sense. For example, scenes from the life of Moses are intended to prefigure the life of Christ. The themes of other paintings also have a figurative meaning: “The Cleansing of the Leper” and “The Temptation of Christ” contain an allusion to Christ’s faithfulness to the law of Moses and, therefore, to the continuity of the Old and New Testaments. “The Punishment of Korah, Dathan and Abiron” also hints at the continuity of God’s law (which is symbolically expressed by the Arch of Constantine in the background) and the inevitability of punishment for those who transgress it, which is clearly linked in the viewer’s mind with heretical teachings. In some things one can see a hint of contemporary artist persons and circumstances. But by linking together historically different events, Botticelli destroys the spatio-temporal unity and even the meaning of the narrative itself. Individual episodes, despite the time and space separating them, are welded together with stormy upswings of linear rhythm that arise after long pauses, and this rhythm, which has lost its melodic, smooth character, full of sudden impulses and dissonances, is now entrusted with the role of a carrier of drama, which cannot be more expressed through the actions or gestures of individual characters.
"Birth of Venus" ca.1485
This is by no means a pagan glorification of female beauty: among the meanings embedded in it appears the Christian idea of the birth of a soul from water during baptism. The beauty that the artist seeks to glorify is, in any case, spiritual beauty, not physical: the naked body of the goddess means naturalness and purity, the needlessness of jewelry. Nature is represented by its elements (air, water, earth). The sea, agitated by the breeze blown by Aeolus and Boreas, appears as a bluish-green surface on which the waves are depicted with the same schematic signs. The shell is also symbolic. Against the background of a wide sea horizon, three rhythmic episodes develop with varying intensity - the winds, Venus emerging from a shell, a maid receiving her with a bedspread decorated with flowers (a hint of the green cover of nature). Three times the rhythm begins, reaches maximum tension and dies out.
"Annunciation"1489-1490
the artist brings unusual confusion into the scene, which is usually so idyllic, the Angel bursts into the room and quickly falls to his knees, and behind him, like streams of air cut through during flight, his transparent, glass-like, barely visible clothes rise up. His right hand with a large hand and long nervous fingers is extended towards Maria, and Maria, as if blind, as if in oblivion, stretches out her hand towards him. It seems as if internal currents, invisible but clearly perceptible, flow from his hand to Mary’s hand and make her whole body tremble and bend.
"Mystical Christmas" 1500 g,
Perhaps the most ascetic, but at the same time the most sharply polemical of all his works last period. And he accompanies it with an apocalyptic inscription, which predicts enormous troubles for the coming century. It depicts an unimaginable space in which the figures in the foreground are smaller than those more distant, for this is how the “primitives” acted, the lines do not converge at one point, but zigzag across the landscape, as if in a Gothic miniature inhabited by angels.
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