Sandro Botticelli, whose works are an invaluable legacy that embodied the glimpses of bygone times, is an outstanding Renaissance painter, a bright figure against the background of painters of the Lorenzo the Magnificent period.
Biography of an Italian artist
Botticelli's real name is Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi. The nickname Botticelli was inherited from his older brother and means “barrel” in translation.
The Florentine Sandro Botticelli, whose works are admired by the whole world, was born in 1445 in the family of a leather tanner and was the youngest son. Mariano Filipeppi's father and his wife Zmeralda rented an apartment, and his own workshop gave a very modest income, so the tanner wanted to successfully attach his sons and leave his craft. In 1458, Sandro moonlighted as an apprentice in his brother's jewelry workshop. Having become skilled in this subtle art, requiring confidence and accuracy in drawing, he soon became interested in painting and two years later enrolled as a student of the Florentine painter Fra Filippo Lippi, from whom he studied until the age of 22.
The first lessons of Botticelli
Valuable lessons of jewelry craftsmanship were useful to the artist in the future: the famous works of Sandro Botticelli are characterized by the sharpness of the contour lines and the professional use of gold, which was used in its pure form to depict the background or as an impurity to paints. The time spent in the mentor’s workshop was productive and fun for the young man. The student became a follower of his teacher and imitated him in everything. The latter, reciprocating with such a sincere devotion and desire to absorb the knowledge as much as possible, tried to give Botticelli everything that was in his power. The style of the first teacher had a huge impact on the style of writing Botticelli's paintings, especially on the ornamental details, color and facial features.
Sandro, eager for new knowledge, became a visitor to the workshop of Andrea Verrocchio, an Italian sculptor and painter, a versatile person who led a team of talented beginner artists. The creative search prevailing among the people of art is clearly expressed in the first works of the Florentine master: “Madonna and Child with Two Angels” and “Madonna in the Rosary”. It is in them that the experience gained by Botticelli from his teachers is clearly traced. In 1467, the Florentine decided to open his own workshop.
The main works of Sandro Botticelli: "Allegory of the Force"
The artist completed the first order in 1470 for the hall of the Commercial Court, a city institution that examined cases of economic offenses. It was a picture of the “Allegory of Power”, depicting a figure seated on a deep throne. Being the embodiment of conviction and moral strength, the “Strength” Botticelli expresses instability and internal fragility with his pose.
The year 1472 for Sandro was marked by enrollment in the association of artists - the Guild of St. Luke, which gave the painter the opportunity to maintain a workshop on a legal basis, surrounding himself with assistants. One of Botticelli's students was the son of a former teacher, Filippino Lippi.
The fame of the Florentine painter
By 1475, Sandro Botticelli, whose works were mostly written on biblical and mythological themes, became a well-known and sought-after master. The artist painted paintings for churches, created murals, gradually replacing the grace and planar linearity adopted from Filippo with a new understanding of volumes and a more powerful interpretation of figures. Unlike his first teacher, whose work is characterized by a pale palette, the painter enriched his canvases with bright color, which gradually became increasingly saturated. Sandro Botticelli, whose paintings embody the spirit of the Renaissance, began to use ocher shades to convey flesh color - a technique that became a feature of his style of painting.
The famous works of Sandro Botticelli
Photos of the Italian artist’s canvases convey the enormous talent of the Florentine, who left a bright mark in the creative heritage of his country. Many of Sandro Botticelli's works date back to the 1470s, although not all of them have accurate dating. The time of writing most of them was determined by conducting stylistic analysis.
This time period includes such canvases as “Adoration of the Magi” (1475), “St. Sebastian ”(1473),“ Portrait of a Florentine lady ”(1470) and“ Portrait of a young man ”(1470). Tentatively in 1476, a portrait was painted of the brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent - Giuliano Medici, who was killed during the plot of 1478. Botticelli was in close contact with the Medici family - the undisputed rulers of Florence. It was for Giuliano that the artist painted the banner for the 1475 tournament.
Botticelli style personality
In the works of the period of the 1470s, one can trace the gradual growth of the artistic skill of the Florentine author: borrowed styles of other artists and stylistic vibrations disappeared in his canvases. Botticelli developed his own style of writing: the characters of his paintings are characterized by a strong structure, energy, elegance and clarity are characteristic of the contours, and dramatic imagery is achieved by a combination of a strong inner spirit and active action.
These components are present in the fresco "St. Augustine" (1480). The artist was good at writing a still life. The objects present in his paintings are depicted accurately and clearly, expressing the author’s ability to correctly capture the essence of form. However, they do not come to the fore, focusing the viewer's attention on key characters. Sandro Botticelli, whose paintings are presented in the most famous world galleries, used Gothic churches and castle walls as a background, thus achieving a picturesque romantic effect.
Murals for the Sistine Chapel
Sandro Botticelli, whose works delight the audience, received his orders mainly in Florence. One of the most famous paintings is “Saint Sebastian”, painted for the oldest city church of Santa Maria Maggiore. The canvas, solemnly placed on one of the church columns in January 1474, was firmly established in the art panorama of Florence. In 1481, Sandro Botticelli, along with Domenico Ghirlandaio and Cosimo Rosselli, received an invitation from Pope Sixtus IV to Rome to paint frescoes on the side walls of the newly erected Sistine Chapel.
In the completed works “Healing the Leper and the Temptation of Christ”, “Punishment of Korea” and “Scenes from the Life of Moses”, the author masterly solved the problem of interpreting a complex theological program: he made full use of compositional effects and interpreted it with lively, clear, light dramatic scenes.
Mythological trend in the paintings of Botticelli
Returning to Florence in 1482, Sandro buried his father. After a short break, he again began to paint. This time was the peak of Botticelli's fame: customers in crowds went to his workshop, so part of the orders were filled by the master’s students, while he himself took on complex and prestigious orders.
At this time, the world saw the famous works of Sandro Botticelli: “Pallas and the Centaur”, “Spring”, “Venus and Mars”, “The Birth of Venus”, which are among the most valuable works of the Renaissance and are true masterpieces of Western European art. The plots of these paintings, in which the impact of ancient art and excellent knowledge of classical sculpture are clearly felt, are inspired by mythology.
"The Birth of Venus"
The “Birth of Venus” symbolizes the myth of the union of matter and the life-giving spirit that breathes life into it. The perfection of the human race is embodied in the figure of Ora, holding the cloak of modesty to the goddess - a historical moment, which Italian master Sandro Botticelli very clearly and penetratingly captured.
The paintings, the list of which is quite extensive, in the later stages began to be characterized by signs of a certain mannerism, so to speak, of self-love of self-mastery. To increase psychological expressiveness, the proportions of the figures are violated. It is known that Botticelli often ordered sketches for prints and fabrics, but only a small part of these drawings has survived to our time.
Famous canvases of the Italian
The canvas “The Crown of Our Lady” (1490) is saturated with exhilarating anxiety, anxiety of feelings and bright hopes. The angels captured in the painting convey alarm, in the gesture of St. Jerome traced confidence and dignity. The work feels a certain departure from the perfection of proportions, increasing tension, sharpening color - a slight change in the style inherent in Sandro Botticelli.
Works, photos of paintings express a desire for deep drama, which can be clearly seen in the film "Abandoned", the plot of which is taken from the Bible: Tamar, who was expelled by Ammon. The artistic embodiment of this historical fact carries a universal meaning: an understanding of a woman’s weakness, sympathy for loneliness and desperation restrained by her, a dull barrier in the form of a thick wall and locked gates.
The last years of the life of an Italian artist
In 1493, Botticelli buried his beloved brother Giovanni, while Florence said goodbye to Lorenzo the Magnificent. In the city - the former cradle of humanistic thought - the revolutionary speeches of the Savonarods sounded. A creative crisis came in the life of Sandro Botticelli. The paintings, the description of which is characterized by deep sadness and longing, express a complete decline in the mood of the author. Sermon of the Savonarods about the coming end of the world led to the fact that in February 1497 the people in the central square made a huge bonfire in which they burned valuable works of art. Mass psychosis also succumbed to some artists, among whom was Botticelli. In flames, he burned several of his sketches, although there is no exact evidence of this action. Soon Savonarola was accused of heresy and publicly executed.
By the end of his life, Botticelli was very lonely, became weak and very ill. According to contemporaries, the artist was able to move only with crutches. Its former glory remained in the past, orders ceased to arrive: times changed, the new era of art replaced. The artist was never married and had no children. Sandro Botticelli died all alone in 1510.