Sandro Botticelli
Botticelli is considered one of the great minds of the Renaissance. He was born 1445, to his parents Mariano Filipepi and his wife Smeralda. Botticelli went to school until he was 14, and was considered a rambunctious student forcing his father to send him to work as an apprentice to a goldsmith. His father agreed to allow him to become a painter after some time. While he studied painting he studied under Fra Filippo Lippi. In 1470, Botticelli’s completed his first painting, Fortitude. Another one of his early works is Adoration of the Magi which is several portraits of the Medici family. Something unique about this painting is it was a circular in shape, also known as a tondi. Even though there are only eight portraits still in existence, he was widely known as a portraitist.
During the 1480s Sandro painted in a different way and did not created as much of a three dimensional effect. In 1480, he painted his first fresco, Saint Augustine, which is said to be the reason he was able to get a commission from Pope Sixtus IV and have one of his frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. Pope Sixtus IV began the construction of the Sistine Chapel with the idea that he wanted to have paintings line the walls telling stories of the Bible, giving Botticelli the job of painting the stories: The Story of Moses,The Punishment of Korah, and The Temptation of Christ.
On top of his frescoes, Sandro is known for many of his paintings. The first in a cluster of paintings he had was Primavera (1482), probably his most famous painting besides Birth of Venus(1485). He followed Primavera with a series of other paintings including the Birth of Venus, his most famous painting and ones of the most famous in the world. Both of these famous paintings were made for Lorenzo de Medici and his family. Botticelli was great friends with the Medici family and received much patronage from them. Most of the work he did was done in Florence and the Medicis helped with a lot of it, giving him many commissions. Along with Primavera and Birth of Venus, Botticelli had many great paintings including Pallas and the Centaur, The Last Communion of St. Jerome, Nativity, Calumny of Apelles, and Crucifixion.
In the final stages of his life, Botticelli did not have any commissions given to him. In the final ten or so years of his life, he worked on a painting visualizing the places described in Dante’s Inferno. At the end of his life around 1505, Botticelli’s work became uninteresting and disregarded by society. His art was considered out of style and not impressive. Not until the 19th century did his art became more recognized and more liked.
Sandro Botticelli is known today mostly for his paintings Primavera and Birth of Venus. In these paintings Venus is standing in the center, one of which has her naked. During this time that was considered very dramatic and essentially frowned upon by society. Botticelli was very popular among the Medicis and painted many paintings for them including Primavera and Birth of Venus. On top of these, he composed several illustrations of scenes from the Bible for the Sistine Chapel. Assigned by Pope Sixtus IV, he painted three scenes from the Old Testament and also a self portrait for the Sistine Chapel. Another reason he is known for is burning his artwork. In this lifetime there were many religious bonfires that took place. Botticelli decided that he should burn several of his paintings because some of them were considered risque in his time. We know much about Sandro Botticelli and could have learned many other things about this great artist if he would not have burned so much of his work.
During the 1480s Sandro painted in a different way and did not created as much of a three dimensional effect. In 1480, he painted his first fresco, Saint Augustine, which is said to be the reason he was able to get a commission from Pope Sixtus IV and have one of his frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. Pope Sixtus IV began the construction of the Sistine Chapel with the idea that he wanted to have paintings line the walls telling stories of the Bible, giving Botticelli the job of painting the stories: The Story of Moses,The Punishment of Korah, and The Temptation of Christ.
On top of his frescoes, Sandro is known for many of his paintings. The first in a cluster of paintings he had was Primavera (1482), probably his most famous painting besides Birth of Venus(1485). He followed Primavera with a series of other paintings including the Birth of Venus, his most famous painting and ones of the most famous in the world. Both of these famous paintings were made for Lorenzo de Medici and his family. Botticelli was great friends with the Medici family and received much patronage from them. Most of the work he did was done in Florence and the Medicis helped with a lot of it, giving him many commissions. Along with Primavera and Birth of Venus, Botticelli had many great paintings including Pallas and the Centaur, The Last Communion of St. Jerome, Nativity, Calumny of Apelles, and Crucifixion.
In the final stages of his life, Botticelli did not have any commissions given to him. In the final ten or so years of his life, he worked on a painting visualizing the places described in Dante’s Inferno. At the end of his life around 1505, Botticelli’s work became uninteresting and disregarded by society. His art was considered out of style and not impressive. Not until the 19th century did his art became more recognized and more liked.
Sandro Botticelli is known today mostly for his paintings Primavera and Birth of Venus. In these paintings Venus is standing in the center, one of which has her naked. During this time that was considered very dramatic and essentially frowned upon by society. Botticelli was very popular among the Medicis and painted many paintings for them including Primavera and Birth of Venus. On top of these, he composed several illustrations of scenes from the Bible for the Sistine Chapel. Assigned by Pope Sixtus IV, he painted three scenes from the Old Testament and also a self portrait for the Sistine Chapel. Another reason he is known for is burning his artwork. In this lifetime there were many religious bonfires that took place. Botticelli decided that he should burn several of his paintings because some of them were considered risque in his time. We know much about Sandro Botticelli and could have learned many other things about this great artist if he would not have burned so much of his work.