(Continued - series 1)

Sandro Botticelli (Italian: Sandro Botticelli, March 1, 1445 - May 17, 1510) is the nickname of the Florentine artist Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi (Italian: Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi), who brought Quattrocento art to the threshold of the High Renaissance.

Self-portrait, not finished

A deeply religious man, Botticelli worked in all the major churches of Florence and in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican, but he remained in the history of art primarily as the author of large-format poetic canvases on subjects inspired by classical antiquity - “Spring” and “The Birth of Venus”.

For a long time, Botticelli was in the shadow of the giants of the Renaissance who worked after him, until he was rediscovered in the middle of the 19th century by the British Pre-Raphaelites, who revered the fragile linearity and spring freshness of his mature canvases as the highest point in the development of world art.

Born in the family of a wealthy citizen Mariano di Vanni Filipepi. Received a good education. The nickname Botticelli ("keg") passed to Sandro from his broker brother, who was a fat man. He studied painting with the monk Filippo Lippi and took over from him that passion in depicting touching motifs that distinguishes Lippi's historical paintings. Then he worked for the famous sculptor Verrocchio. In 1470 he organized his own workshop.

He adopted the subtlety and precision of lines from his second brother, who was a jeweler. For some time he studied with Leonardo da Vinci in the workshop of Verrocchio. The original feature of Botticelli's own talent is his inclination towards the fantastic. He was one of the first to introduce ancient myth and allegory into the art of his time, and he worked with special love on mythological subjects. Especially spectacular is his Venus, who swims naked on the sea in a shell, and the gods of the winds shower her with a rain of roses, and drive the shell to the shore.

The best creation of Botticelli is considered to be the frescoes he began in 1474 in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican. Presumably Botticelli was an adherent of Savonarola. According to legend, already in old age, he burned his youthful painting at the stake of vanity. The Birth of Venus was the last such painting. Diligently studied Dante; The fruit of this study was the engravings on copper attached to the edition of Dante's Inferno (Magna's edition) published in Florence in 1481.

Completed many paintings commissioned by the Medici. In particular, he painted the banner of Giuliano Medici, brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent. In the 1470-1480s, the portrait becomes an independent genre in the work of Botticelli ("Man with a Medal", ca. 1474; "Young Man", 1480s). Botticelli became famous for his delicate aesthetic taste and such works as The Annunciation (1489-1490), The Abandoned Woman (1495-1500), etc. In the last years of his life, Botticelli, apparently, left painting.

In 1504, the artist participated in the commission that determined the place for the installation of the statue of David by Michelangelo, but his proposal was not accepted. It is known that the artist's family had a house in the Santa Maria Novella quarter and income from a villa in Belsguardo. Sandro Botticelli is buried in the family tomb in the Ognissanti Church (Chiesa di Ognissanti) in Florence. According to the will, he was buried near the grave of Simonetta Vespucci, who inspired the most beautiful images of the master.

1469 Sandro Botticelli Vierge a l "Enfant et deux anges Detrempe sur panneau 100x71 cm

1470 Sandro Botticelli Vierge a l "Enfant et le petit saint Jean Detrempe sur panneau 93x69 cm Paris, musee du Louvre

Spring, (between 1477 and 1478), Uffizi, Florence

Birth of Venus, (c. 1484), Uffizi, Florence

1481 Sandro Botticelli Annonciation Fresque detachee 243x555 cm Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi

Detail

Detail

1482 Sandro Botticelli Pallas et le Centaure dst 207x148 cm Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi

1482 Sandro Botticelli Vierge en adoration devant l "Enfant avec le petit saint Jean Detrempe sur panneau 95 cm

1497 Sandro Botticelli La Calomnie Detrempe sur panneau 62x91 cm Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi

1498 Francesco Rosselli Supplice de Savonarole Detrempe sur panneau 101x117 cm Florence, Museo di San Marco

1500 Sandro Botticelli Episodes de la vie de Virginie Detrempe sur panneau 53x165 cm

1500 Sandro Botticelli Repos durant la fuite en Egypte Detrempe sur panneau 130x95 cm Paris, musee Jacquemart

Fully

Botticelli Sandro(Botticelli, Sandro)

Botticelli Sandro(Botticelli, Sandro) (1445-1510), one of the most prominent artists of the Renaissance. Born in Florence in 1444 in the family of leather tanner Mariano di Vanni Filipepi (Botticelli's nickname, meaning "barrel", actually belonged to his older brother). After an initial apprenticeship with a jeweler, ca. 1462 Botticelli entered the workshop of one of the leading painters of Florence, Fra Filippo Lippi. Filippo Lippi's style 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, planar 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 the same time, Botticelli began to use energetic ocher shadows to convey flesh color - a technique that became a characteristic feature of his painting style. These changes appear in their entirety in Botticelli's earliest documented painting, 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 early works of the master (c. 1470), illustrate another important aspect of Botticelli's painting: a lively and capacious narrative, in which expression and action are combined, revealing the dramatic essence with complete clarity 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 prevails in Botticelli's earliest painting, the Adoration of the Magi (London, National Gallery).

Paintings by Botticelli:

Among the works of Botticelli, only a few have reliable dates; many of his paintings have been dated based on stylistic analysis. Some of the most famous works date back to the 1470s: the painting of St. Sebastian (1473), the earliest depiction of a naked body in the work of the master; Adoration of the Magi (c. 1475, Uffizi). Two portraits of a young man (Florence, Pitti Gallery) and a Florentine lady (London, Victoria and Albert Museum) date from 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 set forth in Leon Battista Alberti's first outstanding theoretical treatise on Renaissance painting (On Painting, 1435–1436) and experimented with perspective. By the end of the 1470s, the stylistic fluctuations and direct borrowings from other artists inherent in his early works disappeared in the works of Botticelli. By this time, he already confidently mastered a completely individual style: the figures of the characters acquire a strong structure, and their contours surprisingly 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, Ognisanti Church), written in 1480 as a paired composition to the fresco of Ghirlandaio St. Jerome.

Items around St. Augustine, - a music stand, books, scientific instruments - demonstrate Botticelli's skill in the still life genre: they are depicted with accuracy and clarity, revealing the artist's ability to grasp the essence of form, but at the same time they are not striking and do not distract from the main thing. Perhaps this interest in still life is associated with the influence of Netherlandish painting, which was admired by the Florentines of the 15th century. Of course, Netherlandish art influenced Botticelli's interpretation of the landscape. Leonardo da Vinci wrote that "our Botticelli" showed little interest in the landscape: "... he says that this is an empty exercise, because it is enough just to throw a sponge soaked in colors on the wall, and it will leave a spot in which one can discern a beautiful landscape" . Botticelli generally contented himself with using conventional motifs for the backgrounds of his paintings, varying them by incorporating Netherlandish painting motifs such as Gothic churches, castles and walls to achieve a romantic-painterly effect.

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 rebuilt Sistine Chapel. He completed three of these frescoes: Scenes from the life of Moses, Healing of a leper and the temptation of Christ, and Punishment of Korah, Dathan and Abiron. In all three frescoes, the problem of presenting a complex theological program in clear, light and lively dramatic scenes is masterfully solved; while making full use of compositional effects.

After returning to Florence, perhaps in late 1481 or early 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), belonging to the number the most famous works of the Renaissance and representing the true 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 in the Renaissance. Thus, the graces from Spring go back to the classical group of three graces, and the pose of Venus from the Birth of Venus goes back to the Venus Pudica type (Venus bashful).

Some scholars see these paintings as a visual embodiment of the main ideas of the Florentine Neoplatonists, especially Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499). However, adherents of this hypothesis ignore the sensual principle in the three paintings depicting 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 the wedding. They are the most remarkable surviving works of this genre of painting, which celebrates marriage and the virtues associated with the birth of love in the soul of a pure and beautiful bride. The same ideas are the main ones in 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.

The magical grace, beauty, imaginative richness and brilliant execution inherent in mythological paintings are also present in several of Botticelli's famous altarpieces painted during the 1480s. Among the best are the Bardi Altarpiece depicting the Virgin and Child with St. John the Baptist (1484) and the Annunciation of Cestello (1484–1490, Uffizi). But in the Annunciation of Cestello, the first signs of mannerisms 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 peculiarities 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 the works of Botticelli of the 1490s and early 1500s, even for the allegorical painting Slander (Uffizi), in which the master exalts his own work, associating it with the creation of Apelles, the greatest of ancient Greek painters. Two paintings painted after the fall of the Medici in 1494 and influenced by the sermons of Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498), the Crucifixion (Cambridge, Massachusetts, Fogg Art Museum) and the Mystical Nativity (1500, London, National Gallery), represent the embodiment of an unshakable faith Botticelli in the revival of the Church. These two paintings reflect the artist's rejection of the secular Florence of the Medici era. Other works by the master, such as Scenes from the Life of a Roman Woman Virginia (Bergamo, Accademia Carrara) and Scenes from the Life of a Roman Woman Lucretia (Boston, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum), express his hatred of the tyranny of the Medici.

Few drawings by Botticelli himself have survived, although it is known that he was often commissioned for sketches for fabrics and prints. Of exceptional interest is his series of illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy. The deeply thought-out graphic commentaries on the great poem have largely remained unfinished.

About 50 paintings are entirely or largely by Botticelli. He was the head of a flourishing workshop, working in the same genres as the master himself, in which products of different quality were created. Many of the paintings are written by Botticelli's own hand or made according to his plan. Almost all of them are characterized by pronounced flatness and linearity in the interpretation of form, combined with frank mannerism. Botticelli died in Florence on May 17, 1510.

The real name of Sandro Botticelli is Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi. It is difficult to name a Renaissance artist whose name would be more associated with the history of Florence. He was born in the family of a tanner Mariano Vanni Filipepi. After the death of his father, the elder brother becomes the head of the family, a wealthy stock exchange businessman, nicknamed Botticelli (barrel), this nickname stuck to him either for his excessive addiction to wine, or because of his fullness.

At the age of fifteen or sixteen, the gifted boy enters the workshop of the famous Philippi Lippi. Having mastered the technique of fresco painting, Alessandro Botticelli (the nickname of his brother became a kind of pseudonym for the artist) enters the most famous art studio in Florence, Andrea Verocchio. In 1469, Sandro Botticelli was introduced to Tomaso Soderini, a prominent statesman of the Republic of Florence, who brought the artist together with the Medici family.

The lack of privileges provided by wealth and nobility taught Sandro from his youth to rely only on his own energy and talent in everything. The streets of Florence with their marvelous architecture and temples with statues and frescoes of the founders of the Renaissance, Giotto and Masaccio, became a real school for the "whimsical head" - young Sandro.

Seeking freedom and creativity, the painter finds it not in traditional church subjects, but where he is "overwhelmed by love and passion." Carried away and able to please, he very soon finds his ideal in the image of a teenage girl, inquisitively knowing the world. Botticelli was considered a singer of refined femininity. The artist gives all his Madonnas, as sisters, the same penetrating, thinking, charmingly irregular face.

The artist fuses together his observations of life with the impressions of ancient and modern poetry. Thanks to the mythological genre, Italian painting becomes secular and, breaking through the walls of churches, enters people's homes as an everyday source of enjoyment of the beautiful.

For the Medici family, Botticelli completed his most famous and major orders. Sandro never left Florence for long. An exception is his trip to Rome to the papal court in 1481-1482 for painting as part of a group of artists from the Sistine Chapel library. Returning, he continues to work in Florence. At this time, his most famous works were written - Spring, the Birth of Venus.

The political crisis in Florence, which broke out after the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent, and the militant preacher Savonarola came to spiritual power in the city, could not but affect the artist's work. Having lost moral support in the person of the Medici family, a deeply religious and suspicious person, he fell into spiritual dependence on an exalted religious and intolerant preacher. Secular motifs have almost completely disappeared from the master's work. The beauty and harmony of the world, which so excited the artist, no longer touched his imagination.

His works on religious themes are dry and overloaded with details, the artistic language has become more archaic. The execution of Savonarola in 1498 caused a deep mental crisis in Botticelli.

In the last years of his life, he completely stopped writing, considering this occupation sinful and vain.

Simonetta was one of the most beautiful women in Florence. She was married, but many young men from wealthy families dreamed of a beauty, showed her signs of special attention. She was loved by the brother of the ruler of Florence, Lorenzo Medici - Giuliano. According to rumors, Simonetta reciprocated the handsome, very gentle young man. Husband, Senor Vespucci, given the nobility and influence of the Medici family, was forced to endure such a situation. But the people of Florence, thanks to the beauty of Simonetta, her sincerity, loved the girl very much.
A young woman stands with her profile turned to us, her face clearly visible against the background of the wall. The woman is held straight and stern, with a full sense of her own dignity, and her eyes look resolutely and a little sternly into the distance. This young, light-eyed Florentine cannot be denied beauty, charm, charm. The curve of her long neck and the soft line of sloping shoulders captivate with their femininity.
Fate was harsh for Simonetta - she dies of a serious illness in her prime, at 23 years old.

The painting "Spring" introduces the viewer into an enchanted, magical garden, where the heroes of ancient myths dream and dance.
Here, all ideas about the seasons are shifted. On the branches of the trees are large orange fruits. And next to the juicy gifts of the Italian summer - the first green of spring. Time has stopped in this garden to capture the eternal beauty of poetry, love, harmony in an instant.
In the middle of a flowering meadow stands Venus - the goddess of love and beauty; she is presented here as an elegant young girl. Her thin, gracefully curved figure stands out like a bright spot against the background of the dark mass of the bush, and the branches bent over it form a semicircular line - a kind of triumphal arch, created in honor of the queen of this spring holiday, which she overshadows with a blessing gesture of her hand. Cupid hovers over Venus - a playful little god, with a bandage on his eyes and, not seeing anything in front of him, he randomly shoots a burning arrow into space, designed to ignite someone's heart with love. To the right of Venus, her companions are dancing - the three graces - blond creatures in transparent white clothes that do not hide the shape of the bodies, but slightly soften it with whimsically swirling folds.
Near the dancing graces stands the messenger of the gods Mercury; he is easily recognizable by the traditional caduceus wand, with which, according to mythology, he could generously bestow people, and by the winged sandals, which gave him the ability to move from one place to another with lightning speed. A knight's helmet is put on his dark curls, a red cloak is thrown over his right shoulder, a sword with a sharply curved blade and a magnificent hilt is slung over the cloak. Looking up, Mercury raises a caduceus over his head. What does his gesture mean? What gift did he bring to the realm of spring? Perhaps he disperses the clouds with his wand so that not a single drop disturbs the garden, enchanted in its flowering.
From the depths of the thicket, past the leaning trees, the wind god Zephyr flies, embodying the elemental principle in nature. This is an unusual creature with bluish skin, blue wings and hair, wearing a cloak of the same color. He is chasing the young nymph of the fields Chloe. Looking back at her pursuer, she almost falls forward, but the hands of the violent wind catch and hold her. From the breath of the Zephyr, flowers appear on the lips of the nymph, breaking off, they mix with those with which Flora is strewn.
There is a wreath on the head of the goddess of fertility, a flower garland around her neck, a branch of roses instead of a belt, and all her clothes are woven with colorful flowers. Flora - the only one of all the characters goes directly to the viewer, she seems to be looking at us, but she does not see us, she is immersed in herself.
In this thoughtful melodic composition, where the fragile charm of the new Botticelli type resounded in different ways in the exquisitely transparent images of the dancing Graces, Venus and Flora, the artist offers thinkers and rulers his own version of a wise and just world order, where beauty and love rule.

Goddess of fertility - Flora.

Spring itself!

An amazing picture, creates an atmosphere of dreaminess, light sadness. The artist for the first time portrayed the naked goddess of love and beauty Venus from ancient myth. The beautiful goddess, born from sea foam, under the breeze of the wind, standing in a huge shell, glides over the surface of the sea to the shore. A nymph hurries towards her, preparing to throw a flower-decorated veil over the goddess's shoulders. Immersed in thought, Venus stands with her head bowed and her hand supporting the hair flowing along her body. Her delicate spiritualized face is full of that unearthly hidden sadness. The lilac-blue cloak of Zephyr, delicate pink flowers, falling under the breath of the wind, create a rich, unique color scheme. The artist plays with the elusive play of feelings in the picture, he makes all nature - the sea, trees, winds and air - echo the melodious outlines of the body and the contagious rhythms of the movements of his golden-haired goddess.

With stormy aegean, the cradle swam through the bosom of Thetis in the midst of foamy waters.

The creation of a different sky, a face unlike people, rises

In a charming pose, looking lively, she is a young virgin. entails

Zephyr in love sinks to the shore, and their skies rejoice in their flight.

They would say: the true sea is here, and the shell with foam - as if alive,

And it can be seen - the shine of the eyes of the goddess is poured; before her with a smile the sky and verses.

There, in white, Horas walk along the shore, the wind ruffles their golden hair.

As she came out of the water, you could see, she, holding her right hand

Her hair, another covering her nipple, at her feet are flowers and herbs

They covered the sand with fresh greenery.

(From the poem "Giostra" by Angelo Poliziano)

Beautiful Venus

Botticelli interprets the myth of the formidable god of war Mars and his beloved, the goddess of beauty Venus, in the spirit of an elegant idyll, which should have pleased Lorenzo the Magnificent, the ruler of Florence, and his entourage.
Naked Mars, freed from his armor and weapons, sleeps, spread out on a pink cloak and leaning on his shell. Leaning on a scarlet pillow, Venus rises, fixing her gaze on her lover. Myrtle bushes close the scene to the right and left, only small gaps in the sky are visible between the figures of small satyrs playing with the weapons of Mars. These goat-legged creatures with sharp long ears and tiny horns frolic around lovers. One climbed into the shell, the other put on an oversized helmet, in which his head sank, and grabbed the huge spear of Mars, helping to drag his third satyr; the fourth put a golden twisted shell to the ear of Mars, as if whispering to him dreams of love and memories of battles.
Venus really owns the god of war, it was for her sake that the weapon was left, which became unnecessary to Mars and turned into an object of fun for little satyrs.
Venus here is a loving woman guarding the dream of her lover. The pose of the goddess is calm, and at the same time, there is something fragile in her small pale face and too thin hands, and her gaze is full of almost imperceptible sadness and sadness. Venus embodies not so much the joy of love as its anxiety. The lyricism characteristic of Botticelli helped him create a poetic female image. Amazing grace emanates from the movement of the goddess; she is reclining, her bare foot outstretched, peeking out from under transparent clothes. The white dress, trimmed with gold embroidery, emphasizes the graceful proportions of a slender, elongated body and enhances the impression of purity and restraint in the appearance of the goddess of love.
The posture of Mars testifies to anxiety that does not leave him even in a dream. The head is strongly thrown back. On the energetic face, the play of light and shadow highlights the half-open mouth and the deep, sharp crease that crosses the forehead.
The picture was painted on a wooden board measuring 69 X 173.5 cm, it may have served as a decoration for the back of the bed. It was made in honor of the betrothal of one of the representatives of the Vespucci family.

The picture was painted in the period of the highest flowering of the artist's talent. The small frontal picture shows a young man in modest brown clothes and a red cap. For the Italian portrait of the 15th century, this was almost a revolution - until that moment, everyone who commissioned their portrait was depicted in profile or, from the second half of the century, in three-quarters. A pleasant and open young face looks from the picture. The young man has large brown eyes, a well-defined nose, plump and soft lips. Beautiful curly hair framing her face comes out from under the red cap.

The use of mixed media (the artist used both tempera and oil paints) made it possible to make the contours softer, and the light and shade transitions more saturated in color.

Botticelli, like all Renaissance artists, painted the Madonna and Child many times, in a variety of subjects, poses. But all of them are distinguished by their special femininity, softness. With tenderness, the baby clung to the mother. It should be said that, unlike Orthodox icons, in which the images are made flat, as if emphasizing the incorporeality of the Mother of God, in Western European paintings the Madonnas look alive, very earthly.

"Decameron" - from the Greek "ten" and "day". This is a book consisting of the stories of a group of noble youths from Florence who left to escape the plague to a country villa. Settled in a church, they tell ten stories for ten days to amuse themselves in forced exile.
Sandro Botticelli, commissioned by Antonio Pacchi, painted a series of paintings based on a story from the Decameron - "The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti" for his son's wedding.
The story tells how a rich and well-born young man Nastagio fell in love with an even more well-born girl, unfortunately endowed with an absurd character and exorbitant pride. To forget the proud, he leaves his native Ravenna and leaves for the nearby town of Chiassi. Once, while walking with a friend through the forest, he heard loud screams and a woman's cry. And then I saw with horror how a beautiful naked girl was running through the forest, followed by a rider on a horse with a sword in his hand, threatening the girl with death, and the dogs were tearing the girl from both sides...

Nastagio was frightened, but, taking pity on the girl, he overcame his fear and rushed to help her and, grabbing a branch from a tree, went to the rider. The rider shouted: "Don't bother me, Nastagio! Let me do what this woman deserves!" And he said that once, a very long time ago, he loved this girl very much, but she caused him a lot of grief, so that from her cruelty and arrogance he killed himself. But she did not repent, and soon she herself died. And then those from above imposed such a punishment on them: he constantly catches up with her, kills, and takes out her heart, throwing it to the dogs. After some time, she crawls away, as if nothing had happened, and the chase begins again. And so every day, at the same time. Today, Friday, at this hour, he always catches up with her here, on other days - in another place.

Nastagio thought and understood how to teach his beloved a lesson. He called all his relatives and friends to this forest, at this hour, next Friday, he ordered rich tables to be arranged and set. When the guests arrived, he put his beloved proud woman with her face right where the unfortunate couple should appear from. And soon there were exclamations, crying, and everything repeated ... The horseman told the guests everything, as Nastagio had told before. The guests looked at the execution in amazement and horror. And the girl Nastagio thought and realized that the same punishment could await her. Fear suddenly gave rise to love for the young man.
Shortly after Nastagio's cruel performance, the girl sent an attorney with consent to the wedding. And they lived happily, in love and harmony.

The composition is two-dimensional. The Annunciation is the most fantastic story of all gospel stories. The "Annunciation" - the good news - is unexpected and fabulous for Mary, like the very appearance of a winged angel in front of her. It seems that another moment, and Mary will collapse at the feet of the archangel Gabriel, ready to cry himself. The drawing of the figures depicts violent tension. Everything that happens is in the nature of anxiety, gloomy despair. The picture was created in the last period of Botticelli's work, when his hometown of Florence fell out of favor with the monks, when all of Italy was threatened with death - all this put a gloomy shade on the picture.

Through the mythological plot, Botticelli conveys in this picture the essence of the moral qualities of people.
King Midas sits on the throne, two insidious figures - Ignorance and Suspicion - whisper dirty slander into his donkey's ears. Midas listens with his eyes closed, and in front of him stands an ugly man in black - this is Malice, which always guides the actions of Midas. Slander is nearby - a beautiful young girl with an appearance of pure innocence. And next to her are two beautiful constant companions of Slander - Envy and Falsehood. They weave flowers and ribbons into the girl's hair so that Slander will always be favorable to them. Malice draws Slander, who was the favorite of the king, to Midas. She herself, with all her might, pulls the Victim to the court - a half-naked unfortunate young man. It is easy to understand what the judgment will be.
On the left, two more unnecessary figures stand alone - Repentance - an old woman in dark "funeral" clothes and Truth - naked, and knowing everything. She turned her gaze to God and stretched out her hand.

The Magi are the wise men who, having heard the good news about the birth of the baby Christ, hastened to the Mother of God and her great son with gifts and wishes of goodness and long-suffering. All space is filled with sages - in rich clothes, with gifts - they all yearn to witness a great event - the birth of the future Savior of mankind.
The sage bowed down on his knees before the Mother of God and reverently kisses the hem of little Jesus' garment.

Before us is Giuliano Medici - the younger brother of the ruler of Florence - Lorenzo the Magnificent. He was tall, slender, handsome, agile and strong. He was passionately fond of hunting, fishing, horses, loved to play chess. Of course, he could not outshine his brother in politics, diplomacy or poetry. But Giuliano loved Lorenzo very much. The family dreamed of making a cardinal out of Giuliano, but this intention was not realized.
Giuliano led a lifestyle that corresponded to the requirements of the time and the position of the Medici. The Florentines long remembered his robe of silver brocade adorned with rubies and pearls when, as a youth of sixteen, he performed at one of these festivals.
The most beautiful girls in Florence fell in love with him, but Giuliano accompanied only one everywhere - Simonetta Vespucci. Although the girl was married, this did not stop her from reciprocating the charming Giuliano. Giuliano's love for Simonetta was sung in a poem by Poliziano, and their early death turned their relationship into a romantic legend.
Like Simonetta, Giuliano passed away early. But not from illness, but was killed during an attack on Florence by adherents of the Pope - the Pazzi family. Right in the cathedral, in the crowd, during the service, the insidious killers attacked the patriots of Florence, creating a stampede. Of course, they wanted to kill Lorenzo first of all, but he managed to escape, but Giuliano was not lucky, he was killed by an evil, insidious hand.
In the portrait, the artist created a spiritual image of Giuliano Medici, marked by sadness and doom. The head of a young man with dark hair is turned in profile and stands out against the background of the window. The young man's face is significant and beautiful: a high clean forehead, a thin hooked nose, a sensual mouth, a massive chin. The eyes are covered with a heavy semicircle of the eyelids, in the shadow of which the glance barely flickers. The artist emphasizes the pallor of his face, the bitter fold of his lips, a slight wrinkle crossing the bridge of his nose - this enhances the impression of hidden sadness. penetrating the face of Giuliano. The simplicity of the color scheme, consisting of red, brown and gray-blue, corresponds to the overall restraint of the composition and the image itself.

Botticelli, Sandro (Filipepi, Alessandro di Mariano). Genus. 1445, Florence - d. 1510, ibid.

Sandro Botticelli is one of the most famous Florentine painters of the late 15th century. His art, designed for educated connoisseurs, imbued with motifs of Neoplatonic philosophy, was not appreciated for a long time. For about three centuries, Botticelli was almost forgotten, until in the middle of the 19th century interest in his work revived, which has not faded to this day. Writers of the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. (R. Sizeran, P. Muratov) created a romantic and tragic image of the artist, which has since firmly established itself in the minds. But the documents of the late XV - early XVI centuries do not confirm such an interpretation of his personality and do not always confirm the biography of Sandro Botticelli, written by Vasari.

Self-portrait of Sandro Botticelli. Detail of the painting "The Adoration of the Magi". OK. 1475

Sandro Filipepi (this is the real name of the master) was the youngest son of the tanner Mariano Filipepi, who lived in the parish of the Church of All Saints (Ognisanti). Two Botticelli brothers - Giovanni and Simone - were engaged in trade, the third - Antonio - in jewelry. The origin of the nickname Sandro - "botticelle" ("keg") is associated with the trading activities of the brothers. However, Vasari reports that this was the name of the godfather of the artist's father, Mariano, a jeweler, to whom Sandro was sent for training. There is another version, perhaps the closest to the truth, according to which the nickname passed to Sandro Botticelli from brother Antonio, and it means a distorted Florentine word " battigello"-" silversmith.

Around 1464, Sandro entered the studio of the famous artist Fra Filippo Lippi on the recommendation of his neighbor, the head of the Vespucci family. Botticelli remained there until the beginning of 1467. There is evidence that from the spring of 1467 he began to visit the workshop Andrea Verrocchio, and from 1469 he worked independently, initially at home, and then in a rented workshop. By 1470, the first work undoubtedly belonging to Botticelli, “The Allegory of Power” (Florence, Uffizi), belongs. It was part of the Seven Virtues series (the rest are Piero Pollaiolo) for the Chamber of the Merchant Court. A student of Botticelli soon became famous later Filippino Lippi, son of Fra Filippo, who died in 1469. January 20, 1474 on the occasion of the feast of St. Sebastian in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Florence, a painting by Sandro Botticelli "Saint Sebastian" was exhibited.

In the same year, Sandro Botticelli was invited to Pisa to work on the frescoes of Camposanto. For some unknown reason, he did not fulfill them, but in the Cathedral of Pisa he painted the fresco “Ascension of Our Lady”, which died in 1583. In the 1470s, Botticelli became close to the Medici family and the “medical circle” - Neoplatonist poets and philosophers (Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola , Angelo Poliziano). January 28, 1475 brother Lorenzo the Magnificent Giuliano took part in a tournament in one of the Florentine squares with a standard painted by Botticelli (not preserved). After the failed Pazzi conspiracy to overthrow the Medici (April 26, 1478), Botticelli, commissioned by Lorenzo the Magnificent, executed a fresco over the gates of della Dogana, which led to the Palazzo Vecchio. It depicted the hanged conspirators (this painting was destroyed on November 14, 1494 after the flight of Piero de Medici from Florence).

Among the best works of Sandro Botticelli of the 1470s is the Adoration of the Magi, where members of the Medici family and persons close to them are shown in the images of oriental sages and their retinue. At the right edge of the picture, the artist also depicted himself.

Sandro Botticelli. Adoration of the Magi. OK. 1475. In the lower right corner of the picture, the artist depicted himself standing

Between 1475 and 1480 Sandro Botticelli created one of the most beautiful and mysterious works - the painting "Spring". It was intended for Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco Medici, with whom Botticelli had friendly relations. The plot of this picture, which combines the motives of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, has not been fully explained so far and is obviously inspired by both Neoplatonic cosmogony and events in the Medici family.

Sandro Botticelli. Spring. OK. 1482

The early period of Botticelli's work is completed by the fresco "St. Augustine" (1480, Florence, Ognisanti Church), commissioned by the Vespucci family. She makes a couple of Domenico's compositions Ghirlandaio"St. Jerome" in the same temple. The soulful passion of the image of Augustine contrasts with the prosaism of Jerome, clearly demonstrating the differences between the deep, emotional creativity of Botticelli and the solid craft of Ghirlandaio.

In 1481, along with other painters from Florence and Umbria (Perugino, Piero di Cosimo, Domenico Ghirlandaio), Sandro Botticelli was invited to Rome by Pope Sixtus IV to work in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. He returned to Florence in the spring of 1482, having managed to write three large compositions in the chapel: "The Healing of a Leper and the Temptation of Christ", "The Youth of Moses" and "The Punishment of Korah, Dathan and Aviron".

Sandro Botticelli. Scenes from the life of Moses. 1481-1482

Sandro Botticelli. Punishment of Korah, Dathan and Aviron. Fresco in the Sistine Chapel. 1481-1482

In the 1480s, Botticelli continued to work for the Medici and other noble Florentine families, performing paintings on both secular and religious subjects. Around 1483 together with Filippino Lippi, Perugino and Ghirlandaio, he worked in Volterra at the villa of Spedaletto, which belonged to Lorenzo the Magnificent. The famous painting by Sandro Botticelli “The Birth of Venus” (Florence, Uffizi), made for Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco, dates back to 1487. Together with the previously created “Spring”, she became a kind of iconic image, the personification of both the art of Botticelli and the refined culture of the Medicaean court.

Sandro Botticelli. Birth of Venus. OK. 1485

The 1480s also include the two best tondos (round paintings) by Botticelli - the Madonna Magnificat and the Madonna with a Pomegranate (both - Florence, Uffizi). The latter, perhaps, was intended for the audience hall in the Palazzo Vecchio.

It is believed that since the late 1480s, Sandro Botticelli was strongly influenced by the sermons of the Dominican Girolamo Savonarola, who denounced the orders of his contemporary Church and called for repentance. Vasari writes that Botticelli was an adherent of the "sect" of Savonarola and even gave up painting and "fell into the greatest ruin." Indeed, the tragic mood and elements of mysticism in many of the master's later works testify in favor of such an opinion. At the same time, the wife of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco, in a letter dated November 25, 1495, reports that Botticelli is painting the Medici villa in Trebbio with frescoes, and on July 2, 1497, the artist receives a loan from the same Lorenzo for the execution of decorative paintings at the Villa Castello (not preserved). In the same 1497, more than three hundred supporters of Savonarola signed a petition to Pope Alexander VI asking him to remove the excommunication from the Dominican. Among these signatures, the name of Sandro Botticelli was not found. In March 1498 Guidantonio Vespucci invited Botticelli and Piero di Cosimo to decorate their new home on Via Servi. Among the paintings that adorned him were " History of the Roman Virginia"(Bergamo, Carrara Academy) and" History of the Roman woman Lucretia"(Boston, Gardner Museum). Savonarola was burned that same year on May 29, and there is only one direct evidence of Botticelli's serious interest in his person. Almost two years later, on November 2, 1499, Sandro Botticelli's brother Simone wrote in his diary: “Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, my brother, one of the best artists that were in these times in our city, in my presence, sitting at home by the hearth, about three o'clock in the morning, told how that day, in his boat in the house, Sandro talked with Doffo Spini about the case of Frate Girolamo. Spini was the chief judge in the trial against Savonarola.

Sandro Botticelli. Lamentation of Christ (The Entombment). OK. 1490

The most significant late works by Botticelli include the two "Deposition in the Coffin" (both after 1500; Munich, Alte Pinakothek; Milan, Poldi Pezzoli Museum) and the famous "Mystical Nativity" (1501, London, National Gallery) - the only one signed and dated work of the artist. In them, especially in "Christmas", they see Botticelli's appeal to the methods of medieval Gothic art, primarily in violation of perspective and scale relationships.

Sandro Botticelli. Mystical Christmas. OK. 1490

However, the later works of the master are not a stylization. The use of forms and techniques that are alien to the Renaissance artistic method is explained by the desire to enhance emotional and spiritual expressiveness, for the transfer of which the specifics of the real world were not enough for the artist. One of the most sensitive painters of the Quattrocento, Botticelli extremely early felt the impending crisis of the humanistic culture of the Renaissance. In the 1520s, his offensive will be marked by the addition of the irrational and subjective art of Mannerism.

One of the most interesting aspects of Sandro Botticelli's work is portraiture. In this area, he established himself as a brilliant master already in the late 1460s (“Portrait of a Man with a Medal”, 1466-1477, Florence, Uffizi; “Portrait of Giuliano Medici”, c. 1475, Berlin, State Assemblies). In the best portraits of the master, the spirituality and refinement of the appearance of the characters are combined with a kind of hermeticism, sometimes closing them in arrogant suffering (“Portrait of a Young Man”, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art).

Sandro Botticelli. Portrait of a young woman. After 1480

One of the most magnificent draftsmen of the 15th century, Botticelli, according to Vasari, painted a lot and "exceptionally well." Contemporaries highly valued his drawings, and in many workshops of Florentine artists they were kept as samples. So far, very few of them have survived, but the skill of Botticelli as a draftsman can be judged by a unique series of illustrations for the Divine Comedy. Dante. Executed on parchment, these drawings were intended for Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco Medici. Dante Sandro Botticelli turned to illustration twice. The first small group of drawings (not preserved) was apparently made by him in the late 1470s, and Baccio Baldini made nineteen engravings based on it for the publication of the Divine Comedy in 1481. The most famous illustration of Botticelli to Dante is the drawing "Map of Hell" ( La mappa dell inferno).

Sandro Botticelli. Map of Hell (Circles of Hell - La mappa dell inferno). Illustration for the "Divine Comedy" by Dante. 1480s

Botticelli began to complete the sheets of the Medici code after returning from Rome, using partly his first compositions. 92 sheets have been preserved (85 in the Cabinet of Prints in Berlin, 7 in the Vatican Library). The drawings are made with silver and lead pins, the artist then circled their thin gray line with brown or black ink. Four sheets are painted with tempera. On many sheets, the ink stroke is not finished or not done at all. It is these illustrations that especially clearly make you feel the beauty of the light, precise, nervous line of Botticelli.

Sandro Botticelli. Hell. Illustration for the "Divine Comedy" by Dante. 1480s

According to Vasari, Sandro Botticelli was "a very pleasant person and often liked to play a trick on his students and friends." “They also say,” he writes further, “that he loved above all those of whom he knew that they were zealous in their art, and that he earned a lot, but everything went to dust with him, because he was a poor manager and was careless. In the end, he became decrepit and incapacitated and walked leaning on two sticks ... "On the financial situation of Botticelli in the 1490s, that is, at the time when, according to Vasari, he had to give up painting and go bankrupt under the influence of Savonarola's sermons , partly allow judging documents from the State Archives of Florence. It follows from them that on April 19, 1494, Sandro Botticelli, together with his brother Simone, acquired a house with land and a vineyard outside the gates of San Frediano. The income from this property in 1498 was determined at 156 florins. True, since 1503 the master has been indebted for contributions to the Guild of St. Luke, but the record of October 18, 1505 reports that he has been fully repaid. The fact that the elderly Botticelli continued to be famous is also evidenced by a letter from Francesco dei Malatesti, an agent of the ruler of Mantua, Isabella d "Este, who was looking for craftsmen to decorate her studio. On September 23, 1502, he tells her from Florence that Perugino is in Siena, Filippino Lippi is too burdened with orders, but there is also Botticelli, who "praise me a lot." The trip to Mantua did not take place for an unknown reason. In 1503, Ugolino Verino in the poem "De ilrustratione urbis Florentiae" named Sandro Botticelli among the best painters, comparing him with the famous artists of antiquity - Zeuxis and Apelles. On January 25, 1504, the master was part of a commission discussing the choice of a place to install Michelangelo's David. The last four and a half years of Sandro Botticelli's life are not documented. They were that sad time of decrepitude and inoperability that Vasari wrote about. The artist died in May 1510 and was buried on May 17 in the cemetery of the Onisanti church, as there are records of the "Book of the Dead" of Florence and the same book of the guild of doctors and pharmacists.

Other works by Botticelli: “Madonna and Child” (c. 1466, Paris, Louvre), “Madonna and Child in Glory”, “Madonna del Roseto” (both - 1469-1470, Florence, Uffizi), “Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist" (c. 1468, Paris, Louvre), "Madonna and Child with Two Angels" (1468-1469, Naples, Capodimonte), "St. interview" (c. 1470, Florence, Uffizi), "Adoration of the Magi" (c. 1472, London, National Gallery), "Madonna of the Eucharist" (c. 1471, Boston, Gardner Museum), "Adoration of the Magi", tondo (c. . 1473, London, National Gallery), "Discovery of the body of Holofernes", "Return of Judith to Vetilue" (both - c. 1473, Florence, Uffizi), "Portrait of Giuliano Medici" (Washington, National Gallery), "Portrait of a Young Man" (c. 1477, Paris, Louvre), Madonna and Child with Angels, Tondo (c. 1477, Berlin, State Assemblies), Lorenzo Tornabuoni and the Seven Liberal Arts, Giovanna degli Albizzi and Virtues - frescoes of the Villa Lemmi (1480, Paris, Louvre), Portrait of a Woman (1481-1482, London, private collection), Adoration of the Magi (1481-1482, Washington, National Gallery), Pallas and the Centaur (1480-1488, Florence, Uffizi), a series of four paintings based on the story of Boccaccio's story about Nastagio degli Onesti (1483, three - Madrid, Prado, one - London, private collection), "Venus and Mars" (1483, Lond he, National Gallery), "Portrait of a Boy" (1483, London, National Gallery), "Madonna and Child" (1483, Milan, Poldi Pezzoli Museum), "Madonna and Child with Two Saints" (1485, Berlin, State Assembly ), “Madonna and Child with Saints” (“Pala San Barnaba”), “Coronation of Our Lady”, “Annunciation” (all - c. 1490, Florence, Uffizi), “Portrait of Lorenzo Lorenziano” (c. 1490, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Academy), “Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist” (c. 1490, Dresden, Old Masters Picture Gallery), “Adoration of the Child” (c. 1490-1495, Edinburgh, National Gallery of Scotland), “St. Augustine" (1490-1500, Florence, Uffizi), "Slander" (1495, ibid), "Madonna and Child with Angels", tondo (Milan, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana), "Annunciation" (Moscow, Pushkin Museum), "St. Jerome", "St. Dominic (St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum), Transfiguration (c. 1495, Rome, Pallavicini collection), Abandoned (c. 1495, Rome, Rospigliosi collection), Judith with the Head of Holofernes (c. 1495, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum), four compositions on the history of St. Zinovia (1495-1500; two - London, National Gallery, one - New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, one - Dresden, Art Gallery of Old Masters), "Prayer for the Cup" (c. 1499, Granada, Royal Chapel), "Symbolic Crucifixion" (1500-1505, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Fogg Art Museum).

Literature about Botticelli: Vasari 2001. Vol. 2; Dakhnovich A.S. Creativity Botticelli and eternal questions. Kyiv, 1915; Burnson b. Florentine painters of the Renaissance. M., 1923; Grashchenkov V. N. Botticelli. M., 1960; Botticelli: Sat. creative materials. M., 1962; Paslo D. Botticelli. Budapest, 1962; Smirnova I. Sandro Botticelli. M., 1967; Kustodieva T. K. Sandro Botticelli. L., 1971; Dunaev G.S. Sandro Botticelli. M., 1977; Kozlova S. Dante and Renaissance Artists // Dante's Readings. M., 1982; Sonina T.V."Spring" Botticelli // Italian collection. SPb., 1996. Issue. one; Sonina T.V. Botticelli's drawings for Dante's Divine Comedy: Traditional and original // A book in the culture of the Renaissance. M., 2002; Ulmann H. Sandro Botticelli. Munich, 1893; Warburg A. Botticellis "Geburt der Venus" und Frühling": Eine Untersuchung über die Vorschtellungen von der Antike in der italienischen Frührenaissance. Hamburg; Leipzig, 1893; SupinoL I disegni per la "Divina Commedia" di Dante. Bologna, 1921; Venturi A. II Botticelli interprete di Dante. Firenze, 1921; Mesnil J. Sandro Botticelli. Paris, 1938; Lipmann F. Zeichnungen von Sandro Botticelli zu Dantes Gottlicher Komödie. Berlin, 1954; Salvini R. Tutta la pittura del Botticelli. Milano, 1958; ArgonG.C. Sandro Botticelli. Geneva, 1967; in C, Mandel G. L "opera completa del Botticelli. Milano, 1967; Ettlinger L. D., Ettlinger H. S. Botticelli. London, 1976; Lightbown R. Sandro Botticelli: Compi, cat. London, 1978; Baldini U. Botticelli. Firenze, 1988; Pons N. Botticelli Cat. compi. Milano, 1989; Botticelli e Dante. Milano, 1990; Gemeva C. Botticelli Cat. compi. Firenze, 1990; Botticelli. From Lorenzo the Magnificent to Savonarola. Milano, 2003.

Based on the article by T. Sonina

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) is a great Italian Renaissance painter, a representative of the Florentine school of painting.

Botticelli was born to Mariano di Giovanni Filipepi, a tanner, and his wife, Smeralda, in the Santa Maria Novella quarter of Florence. The nickname "Botticelli" (keg) passed to him from his older brother Giovanni, who was a fat man.

Botticelli did not come to painting right away: at first he was a student of the goldsmith master Antonio for two years (there is a version that the young man got his last name from him). In 1462 he began to study painting with Fra Filippo Lippi, in whose studio he stayed for five years. In connection with the departure of Lippi to Spoleto, he moved to the workshop of Andrea Verrocchio.

The first independent works of Botticelli - several images of the Madonnas - in terms of the 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 Strength" (Fortitude), written in 1470, marks the acquisition of Botticelli's own style. In 1470-1472 he wrote a diptych about the history of Judith: "Return of Judith" and "Finding the body of Holofernes".

In 1472, the name Botticelli was first mentioned in the "Red Book" of the company of St. Luke. It also indicates that a student of Filippino Lippi works for him.

At the feast 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 “Adoration of the Magi” for the wealthy citizen 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 has been brought to such perfection in color, drawing and composition that every artist is still amazed at him.”

At this time, Botticelli becomes 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, a secret love and a model for a number of paintings by Botticelli, who never married.

The rapidly spreading fame of Botticelli went beyond Florence. Since the late 1470s, the artist has received numerous commissions. “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 wished to paint it, ordered to put him at the head of the work.”

In 1481, Pope Sixtus IV summoned Botticelli to Rome. Together with Ghirlandaio, Rosselli and Perugino, Botticelli frescoed the walls of the papal chapel in the Vatican, which is known as the Sistine Chapel. After Michelangelo paints the ceiling and the altar wall under Julius II in 1508-1512, she will gain worldwide fame.

Botticelli created three frescoes for the chapel: “The Punishment of Korea, Daphne and Aviron”, “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 with Ficino, Pico and Poliziano, thereby falling under the influence of Neoplatonism, which was reflected in his paintings of secular subjects.

The most famous and most mysterious work of Botticelli is "Spring" (Primavera) (1482).
The painting, together with Pallas and the Centaur (1482-1483) by Botticelli and Madonna and Child by an unknown author, was intended to decorate the Florentine palace of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco, a representative of the Medici family.
The creation of the canvas of the painter was inspired, in particular, by a fragment from Lucretius's poem "On the Nature of Things":

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