Botticelli dish. Two of the most famous paintings by Botticelli

09.07.2019

Read also

Conan Doyle biography Conan Doyle biography brief

Viktor Dragoonsky - biography, photos In which city was Viktor Dragoonsky born

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

Botticelli was born into the family of the tanner Mariano di Giovanni Filipepi 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.

Mastery training (1445-1467)

Botticelli did not come to painting right away: at first he was a student of the goldsmith 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 spent 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 Madonnas - in their manner of execution demonstrate closeness to the works of Lippi and Masaccio, the most famous are: "Madonna and Child with two angels and the young John the Baptist" (1465-1470), "Madonna and Child with two angels" ( 1468-1470), "Madonna in the Rose Garden" (about 1470), "Madonna of the Eucharist" (about 1470).

"Madonna of the Eucharist"

Early works (1470-1480)

From 1470 he had his own workshop near the Church of All Saints. The painting "Allegory of Power" (Fortitude), written in 1470, marks the acquisition of Botticelli's own style. In 1470-1472 he wrote a diptych about the history of Judith: "The 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 for a wealthy city dweller Gaspare del Lama the famous painting "Adoration of the Magi", 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 it."

The Adoration of the Magi (c. 1475)

At this time, Botticelli became famous as a portrait painter. The most significant are "Portrait of an Unknown Man with a Medal of Cosimo Medici" (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.

"Portrait of an Unknown Man with the Medal of Cosimo Medici the Elder"

Giuliano de Medici

Portrait of a young woman

Stay in Rome (1481-1482)

The rapidly spreading fame of Botticelli went beyond the borders of Florence. Since the end of the 1470s, the artist has received numerous orders. "And then he won such fame for himself ... in Florence and beyond that Pope Sixtus IV, who built a chapel in his Roman palace and wished to paint it, ordered him to be in charge of the work."

In 1481, Pope Sixtus IV called 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 the altar wall under Julia II in 1508-1512, it 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.

"Temptation of Christ"

"The Calling of Moses"

Secular works of the 1480s

Botticelli attended the Platonic Academy of Lorenzo the Magnificent, where he met with Ficino, Pico and Poliziano, thereby falling under the influence of neo-Platonism, which was reflected in his paintings of secular themes.

The most famous and most mysterious work of Botticelli is "Spring" (Primavera) (1482). The painting, together with "Pallada 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 member of the Medici family. To create the canvas, the painter was inspired, in particular, by a fragment from Lucretius's poem "On the Nature of Things":

Here is Spring, and Venus is coming, and Venus is winged

The messenger comes ahead, and Zephyr follows, in front of them

Flora-mother walks and, scattering flowers on the way,

It fills everything with paints and a sweet smell ...

The winds, goddess, run before you; with your approach

The clouds are leaving heaven, the earth is a magnificent master

Spreads a flower carpet, the waves of the sea are smiling,

And the azure of the firmament shines with an overflowing light.

The allegorical nature of "Spring" provokes numerous discussions regarding the interpretation of the picture.

In 1483, the Florentine merchant Antonio Pucci commissioned Botticelli for four elongated paintings with scenes of a love story from Boccaccio's Decameron about Nastagio degli Onesti.

The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti from Boccaccio's Decameron. 2nd episode

A short story about Nastagio degli Onesti, a banquet in a pine forest.

Novella about Nastagio degli Onesti

The theme of love is dedicated to the painting "Venus and Mars" (circa 1485).

Venus and Mars

Also around 1485, Botticelli creates the famous painting "The Birth of Venus". “... What distinguishes the work of Sandro Botticelli from the manner of his contemporaries - the masters of the Quattrocento, and, incidentally, painters of all times and peoples? This is a special melodiousness of the line in each of his paintings, an extraordinary sense of rhythm, expressed in the subtlest nuances and in the wonderful harmony of his "Spring" and "The Birth of Venus". Botticelli's coloring is musical, the leitmotif of the work is always clear in it. Few people in the world of painting sound like the plastic of line, movement and an agitated, deeply lyrical, far from mythological or other plot schemes. The artist himself is a director and composer of his creations. He does not use stilted canons, because his paintings so excite the modern viewer with their poetry and primacy of the worldview. "

"The Birth of Venus"

In 1480-1490, Botticelli performed a series of pen illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy. "Sandro painted exceptionally well and so much that long after his death every artist tried to get his drawings."

Dante Alighieri

Religious paintings from the 1480s

"Adoration of the Magi" (1478-1482), "Madonna and Child Enthroned" (altar of Bardi) (1484), "Annunciation" (1485) - Botticelli's religious works of this time are the highest creative achievements of the painter.

"Madonna and Child Enthroned"

Adoration of the Magi

Annunciation

In the early 1480s, Botticelli created the Madonna Magnificat (1481-1485), a painting that became famous during the artist's lifetime, as evidenced by numerous copies. She is one of Botticelli's tondos. Such paintings in the shape of a circle were very popular in Florence in the 15th century. The background of the painting is a landscape, as in "Madonna with a Book" (1480-1481), "Madonna and Child with Six Angels and John the Baptist" (about 1485), "Madonna and Child with Five Angels" (1485-1490).

"Madonna Magnificat"

Madonna and Child with Six Angels and John the Baptist

In 1483, together with Perugino, Ghirlandaio and Filippino Lippi, he painted frescoes in the villa of Lorenzo the Magnificent near Volterra.

Around 1487, Botticelli writes "Madonna with a pomegranate". The Madonna holds in her hand a pomegranate, which is a Christian symbol (in her hand, Raphael's Sistine Madonna originally had a pomegranate instead of a book).

Late works (1490-1497)

In 1490, the Dominican monk Girolamo Savonarola appeared in Florence, in whose sermons a call to repentance and renunciation of a sinful life sounded. Botticelli was fascinated by these sermons, and even, according to legend, watched how his paintings were burned at the stake of vanity. Since then, Botticelli's style has changed dramatically, it becomes ascetic, the range of colors is now restrained, with a predominance of dark tones.

The artist's new approach to creating works is clearly visible in The Crowning of Mary (1488-1490), Lamentation of Christ (1490) and a number of images of the Madonna and Child. The portraits created by the artist at this time, for example, the portrait of Dante (circa 1495), are devoid of landscape or interior backgrounds.

The changes in style are especially noticeable when comparing "Judith Leaving Holofernes's Tent" (1485-1490) with a painting on the same subject created about twenty-five years earlier.

In 1491, Botticelli took part in the work of the commission for the consideration of projects for the facade of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.

The only later painting on a secular theme was The Slander of Apelles (circa 1495).

"Judith Leaving Holofernes's Tent"

"Slander"

King-Judge Midas as an Allegory of Stupidity, Surrounded by Similar Suspicions and Ignorance

Slander, pulling by the hair Innocence, accompanied by their companions - Cunning and Lies

Truth, personifying purity by its nakedness, and Repentance, which, with its questioning and malicious look, is rather Envy

Recent works (1498-1510)

In 1498, Savonarola was captured, charged with heresy, and sentenced to death. These events deeply shocked Botticelli.

In 1500, he creates The Mystical Nativity, the only work he has signed and dated with an inscription in Greek: “I, Alessandro, painted this painting at the end of 1500 in the turmoil of Italy, half the time after the [said in chapter] eleventh John, about the second mountain of the Apocalypse, at a time when the devil was released for three and a half years. Then he was shackled in accordance with the twelfth, and we will see him [trampled on the ground], as in this picture. "

Among the last few works of the artist of this period are scenes from the stories of the Roman women of Virginia and Lucretia, as well as scenes from the life of St. Zenobius.

"Mystical Christmas"

The baptism of St. Zenobius and his appointment as bishop

Scenes from the life of Saint Zenobius

Three miracles of Saint Zenobius

Scenes from the life of Saint Zenobius

In 1504, the painter participates in the work of a commission of artists, which was supposed to choose a place for the installation of Michelangelo's "David".

Botticelli “retired from work and eventually grew old and poorer so that, if he had not remembered when he was still alive, Lorenzo dei Medici, for whom, not to mention many other things, he worked a lot in a small hospital in Volterra and after him his friends, and many wealthy people, admirers of his talent, he could starve to death. ”On May 17, 1510, at the age of 66, Sandro Botticelli died. The painter was buried in the cemetery of the Church of All Saints in Florence.

Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi was born in 1445 in Florence, the son of the tanner Mariano di Vanni Filipepi and his wife Smeralda. Soon the father died and the family was headed by an older brother, a wealthy merchant, who was given the nickname Botticelli ("Bochenok") perhaps because of his rounded figure, perhaps because of his liking for wine. It was then passed on to all the brothers in the family. After the Dominican monastery, together with his middle brother, Alessandro went to study jewelry making. At that time it was a very enviable profession, but after graduation, the guy became interested in painting.

The Filipepi family was very wealthy and respected in the city. One of the neighbors was Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512), after whom America was named. It was on his advice that Allesanro was sent to a workshop in Prato, 20 km from Florence, and after the death of his teacher, the artist returned to Florence. Namely Amerigo Vespuchi introduced the artist to influential people so that Alessandro could realize his talent as a painter.

His first fame as an artist, Sandro received in 1475, when he wrote for monastery of Santa Maria Novella painting "Adoration of the Magi" where he depicted members Medici family worshiping the Virgin Mary.

Festivities were often held in Florence. And so, the main hero of the holiday should be Giuliano de Medici, younger brother Lorenzo the Magnificent... Botticelli created a standard for Giuliano, where his beloved was depicted, a beauty in a white dress in the form Pallas Athens... It was after this celebration that the great artist was officially entrenched in the Medici family circle and the official life of the city.

He took part in the painting for 11 months, after which he returned to Florence, wrote several paintings on mythological themes, and also finished painting "Spring".

The artist was secretly in love with Simonetta Vespucci, but, the girl died suddenly from consumption. And behind her, 2 years after her funeral, in Florence Cathedral, during the Pazzi conspiracy, Giuliano was also stabbed to death by a hired killer. It was at this time that the artist wrote his

A special place is given to his masterpieces in the same way, which, together with "The Birth of Venus" pleases art lovers in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

In 1493, after death Lorenzo the Magnificent, who died at 44 from gout. The preacher Savonarola, who did not absolve him of his sins, who declared himself a servant of Jesus, raised the masses against the Medici, on the central Piazza Signoria burned all valuable works of art, relics confiscated from wealthy houses. There were also those who, succumbing to mass psychosis, burned their paintings with naked figures. According to some chroniclers, among them was and. But with the help Pope Alexander IV, Savonarola was accused of heresy and publicly executed.

Botticelli was not married and had no children either. According to Giorgio Vasari, he was tormented by old age and illness, and at the end of his days he moved with the help of two sticks. He died at 65 and, according to his will, was buried in churches of Onissanti, built by the Vespucci family, in Florence, next to their muse, By Simonetta Vespucci, 34 years after her death.

Svetlana Conobella from Italy with love.

About konobella

Svetlana Conobella, writer, publicist and sommelier of the Italian Association (Associazione Italiana Sommelier). Cultivist and implementer of various ideas. What inspires: 1. Everything that goes beyond the generally accepted ideas, however, honoring traditions is not alien to me. 2. A moment of unity with the object of attention, for example, with the roar of a waterfall, a sunrise in the mountains, a glass of unique wine on the shore of a mountain lake, a fire burning in the forest, a starry sky. Who inspires: Those who create their own world full of bright colors, emotions and impressions. I live in Italy and love its rules, style, traditions, as well as "know-how", but the Motherland and compatriots are forever in my heart. Portal editor www ..

Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) - the famous painter of Italy, who worked during the Renaissance, is one of the main representatives of the Florentine art school.

Birth and family

Sandro was born on March 1, 1445 in the Italian city of Florence. His full real name is Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi.

His father, Mariano di Giovanni Filipepi, was a tanner. Near the bridge Santa Trinita in Oltrarno Mariano kept his workshop. He had very little money from her, so the man dreamed of one thing - so that his children would grow up and get settled in life faster. The head of the family really wanted to take a break from his laborious craft.

Mom, Zmeralda, was engaged in raising sons, of whom four were born in the family, Sandro was the youngest among them.

The family lived in the parish of the Church of All Saints (Onisanti). The parish was located in the Santa Maria Novella quarter of Florence on Via Nuova. Here the family rented a small apartment in a house building owned by Mr. Rucellai.

The first mention of Sandro Botticelli can be found in the inventory of the Italian Republic. Back in 1427, a decree was issued in the Republic that the head of each Florentine family must enter a statement in the cadastre where income was displayed (this was necessary for taxation). In 1458, in his cadastral statement, Mariano Filipepi wrote that he had four sons - Giovanni, Antonio, Simone and Sandro, who is thirteen years old. In this historical record, it was added that the boy grew up very sickly, therefore, at such a late age, he just began to learn to read.

The origin of the surname "Botticelli"

There is no reliable data where the nickname of the future artist - Botticelli - came from. There are only a few versions. His older brother Giovanni was a fat man and received the nickname "botticelli" which meant "keg". By seniority, Giovanni tried to help his father in everything, especially the upbringing of his younger brother Sandro fell on his shoulders. Perhaps the nickname just passed from the older brother to the little one.

According to the second version, the father of the family had a godfather - a certain "Botticello", he was engaged in jewelry art. By that time, the eldest sons had already settled well in life and helped their parents (Giovanni and Simone went into trade, Antonio was a jeweler). The head of the family, Mariano Filipepi, wanted the younger Sandro to follow in Antonio's footsteps. He dreamed that the two brothers would open a (albeit small, but reliable) family business for the production of jewelry. Seeing that the youngest son is very gifted and capable, but who has not yet found a true vocation in life, his father decided to send him to the jewelry channel, sending him to study with Botticello's godfather.

So at the age of twelve, Sandro began to study jewelry art, which later played a significant role in his painting.

The third version is connected with his brother Antonio, who was engaged in jewelry. Sandro helped his elder brother in the workshop, and he gave him the nickname Botticelli, which is translated from Florentine as “silversmith” (albeit in a slightly distorted version).

Painting training

In those days, there was such a close relationship between jewelers and artists that young men who were fond of drawing turned out to be excellent goldsmiths. And, on the contrary, talented painters emerged from jewelry workshops.

So it happened with Sandro. After studying with a jeweler, in 1462 Botticelli began to study painting with the Florentine artist, whose work belongs to the early Renaissance period, Fra Filippo Lippi. This painter was a Carmelite monk from the Carmine monastery, his works were distinguished by naturalness and cheerfulness. Lippi's workshop was located in the city of Prato, where the artist worked on painting the cathedral with frescoes.

Botticelli spent five years in Lippi's workshop until the teacher left for the Italian province of Perugia, in the city of Spoleto, where he soon died. In Prato, Filippo Lippi had a romantic relationship with a nun from the monastery. This woman Lucrezia Buti then gave birth to a son, Filippino Lippi, who later was a student of Botticelli.

After the death of Lippi, Sandro began to study with another famous Italian sculptor and painter Andrea del Verrocchio, who was the teacher of Leonardo da Vinci himself. Verrocchio owned a workshop, the most powerful at that time in Florence. From him Sandro learned anatomically to accurately convey a human figure in strong movement.

Sandro learned from both of his teachers painting of the Early Renaissance period. The first works of Botticelli are a bit similar to the work of Lippi, in them you can see the same richness of details and an abundance of portraits. Nevertheless, contemporaries recognized Sandro as a strong master and noted the originality of his paintings.

In his first independent canvases, Botticelli portrayed Madonna:

Madonna and Child with two angels and the young John the Baptist;
Madonna and Child with Two Angels;
Madonna in the Rose Garden;
"Madonna of the Eucharist".

Already these early works of the artist were distinguished by poetically fanned images and a barely perceptible atmosphere of spirituality.

Creation

Since 1469, Botticelli began to work independently. At first he painted at home, later he rented a workshop, which was located not far from the Church of All Saints.

Already in the following paintings, Sandro did not have a shadow of imitation of his teachers, everywhere his own style was traced:

"Allegory of Power";
The Return of Judith;
"Finding the Body of Holofernes";
Saint Sebastian.

In 1472 Botticelli became a member of the guild of Saint Luke. Here artists united, thanks to membership in the guild, they received the right to conduct independent painting activities, open their own workshops and have assistants.

In the 1470s, a wealthy citizen, a Medici courtier and a member of the Guild of Arts and Crafts in Florence, Gaspare del Lama commissioned Botticelli to paint the painting The Adoration of the Magi. The artist finished it in 1475, on the canvas he depicted the Medici family in the images of the Eastern sages and their retinue, and in the lower right corner he painted himself.

In "Adoration of the Magi" Sandro brought the drawing, as well as compositional and colorful combinations to such a level of perfection that the canvas is called a great miracle, which still amazes every artist.

This painting brought Botticelli fame, he had a lot of orders, especially often he was asked to paint portraits. The most popular are:

"Portrait of an Unknown Man with the Cosimo Medici Medal";
"Portrait of Giuliano Medici";
"Portrait of a Young Woman";
"Portrait of Dante";
portraits of Florentine ladies.

The artist's fame went beyond the borders of Florence, and in 1481 Botticelli was summoned to Rome to paint the chapel at the palace of Pope Sixtus IV. Sandro worked at the Vatican on painting the chapel with frescoes together with other leading Italian artists of that time - Rosselli, Ghirlandaio, Perugino. This was the birth of the famous Sistine Chapel, the painting of which was finished by Michelangelo at the beginning of the 16th century (he designed the altar wall and ceiling), after which the chapel gained world fame.

In the Sistine Chapel, Botticelli has eleven papal portraits and three frescoes:

"The Temptation of Christ";
Punishment Korea, Daphne and Aviron;
The Calling of Moses.

In 1482, Sandro returned from Rome to Florence, where he continued to paint for the Medici family and other noble Florentine persons. These were mainly canvases with secular and religious subjects:

Pallas and the Centaur;
Venus and Mars;
Madonna della Melagrana;
"Annunciation";
"Lamentation over Christ."

The most famous and mysterious painting by the artist Sandro Botticelli is "Spring". Until now, art critics have not been able to fully reveal the plot plan of the painter. It is only known that the creation of this masterpiece was inspired by Lucretius's poem On the Nature of Things.

At the end of the fifteenth century, round-shaped paintings or bas-reliefs, which were called tondo, came into fashion. The most famous works of Botticelli in this style:

Madonna Magnificat;
Madonna and Child with Six Angels and John the Baptist;
"Madonna of the Book";
Madonna and Child with Five Angels;
"Madonna of the Pomegranate".

last years of life

At the end of the 15th century, the monk and reformer Girolamo Savonarola came to Florence. In his sermons, he urged people to give up their sinful life and repent. Botticelli was literally mesmerized by Savonarola's speeches. In February 1497, a vanity bonfire was organized in the city square of Florence. According to the monk's sermons, secular books, rich and magnificent mirrors and costumes, musical instruments, perfumery products, dice and cards were confiscated and burned from the citizens. Impressed by the sermons, Sandro Botticelli personally sent several of his canvases on mythological themes to the fire.

Since then, Sandro's artistic style has changed dramatically. His paintings became more ascetic, they were dominated by a restrained range of colors in dark tones. In his canvases it was no longer possible to see elegance and festive elegance. He even stopped painting portraits against some kind of interior or landscape background; instead, blank stone walls were depicted in the background. These changes became especially noticeable in the painting "Judith Leaving Holofernes's Tent".

In 1498, Savonarola was captured, charged with heresy and sentenced to death. This event made an even greater impression on Botticelli than the sermons of the heretic. The artist began to paint much less and less often, of his last works the most famous were:

"Mystical Christmas";
"Abandoned";
a series of works on the life of St. Zenobius;
scenes from the history of the Roman women Lucretia and Virginia.

The last time he showed himself as a famous artist was in 1504, when he participated in the work of the commission on the selection of the site for the installation of the marble statue of Michelangelo "David".

After that, he stopped working altogether, became very old and became so poor that if his friends and admirers of his talent had not remembered him, he could have starved to death. His soul, which so subtly felt the beauty of the world, but was afraid of sinfulness at the same time, could not stand the torment and doubts.

Sandro passed away on May 17, 1510. He was buried in Florence in the cemetery of the Church of Onisanti. Over the past five centuries after his death, no one could even compare with the richness of poetic fantasy that is present in Botticelli's canvases.

Personal life

Botticelli is considered both a happy and unhappy person. He seemed to be out of this world, shy and at the same time dreamy, distinguished by fantastic reasoning and illogical actions. He absolutely did not care about material well-being and wealth. Sandro did not build his house, he did not have a wife or children.

But he was incredibly happy that he had the opportunity to stop and capture beauty in his works. He transformed the surrounding life into art. And art, in turn, became his true life.

Every creator of the Renaissance had his own source of inspiration. For Botticelli, it was Simonetta Vispucci (for the indescribable beauty in Florence she was called Peerless, Incomparable, Beautiful Simonetta). From the artist's platonic love for this woman, masterpieces of world painting were born. Moreover, Simonetta herself did not pay attention to the modest painter and did not even realize that she had become for him the Deity and the ideal of beauty.

She died at 23, never knowing that her image of Botticelli was preserved forever. Many art critics argue that after the death of Simonetta Vispucci, Botticelli depicted only her in all of her paintings - in the image of Venus, Madonnas, on his most famous canvases "The Birth of Venus" and "Spring". After the death of the first beauty of the Florentine Renaissance, Sandro painted her image for 15 years.

Sandro Botticelli (Italian Sandro Botticelli, real name - Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi; 1445 - May 17, 1510) - Italian painter of the Tuscan school.

Biography of Sandro Botticelli

Sandro Botticelli is an Italian painter of the Tuscan school.

Representative of the Early Renaissance. Was close to the Medici court and the humanist circles of Florence. Works on religious and mythological themes ("Spring", about 1477-1478; "The Birth of Venus", about 1483-1484) are marked by spiritualized poetry, play of linear rhythms, subtle coloring. Under the influence of social upheavals in the 1490s, Botticelli's art became intensely dramatic ("Slander", after 1495). Drawings for Dante's Divine Comedy, delicate portraits of character (Giuliano Medici).

Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi was born in 1445 in Florence, the son of the tanner Mariano di Vanni Filipepi and his wife Smeralda. After the death of his father, the head of the family became an older brother, a wealthy stock trader, nicknamed Botticelli ("Keg"), either because of his rounded figure, or because of intemperance to wine. This nickname extended to other brothers as well. (Giovanni, Antonio and Simone) The Filipepi brothers received their primary education at the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria Novella, for which Botticelli later performed work. At first, the future artist, together with his middle brother Antonio, was sent to study jewelry making. The art of a jeweler, a profession respected in the mid-15th century, taught him a lot.

The clarity of the contour lines and the skillful use of gold, acquired by him when he was a jeweler, will forever remain in the artist's work.

Antonio became a good jeweler, and after completing his studies, Alessandro became interested in painting and decided to devote himself to it. The Filipepi family was respected in the city, which, later, provided him with impressive connections. The Vespucci family lived next door. One of them, Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512), a famous trader and explorer, after whom America is named. In 1461-62, on the advice of George Antonio Vespucci, he was sent to the studio of the renowned artist Filippo Lippi, in Prato, a city 20 km from Florence.

In 1467-68, after the death of Lippi, Botticelli returned to Florence, having learned a lot from the teacher. In Florence, the young artist, studying with Andreo de Verrocchio, where Leonardo da Vinci was studying at the same time, became famous. This period includes the first independent works of the artist, who since 1469 worked in his father's house.

In 1469, Sandro was introduced by George Antonio Vespucci to the influential politician and statesman Tommaso Soderini. From this meeting, abrupt changes take place in the artist's life.

In 1470 he receives, with the support of Soderini, the first official order; Soderini brings Botticelli to his nephews Lorenzo and Giuliano Medici. Since that time, his work, and this is the heyday, is associated with the name Medici. In 1472-75. he writes two small works depicting the story of Judith, apparently intended for cabinet doors. Three years after the "Power of the Spirit" Botticelli creates St. Sebastian, who was very solemnly installed in the church of Santa Maria Maggiori, in Florence, Beautiful Madonnas appear, radiating enlightened meekness. where, surrounded by Mary, he portrayed members of the Medici family. Florence during the reign of the Medici was a city of knightly tournaments, masquerades, festive processions. On January 28, 1475, one of these tournaments took place in the city. It took place in Piazza Santa Corce, and its protagonist was to be Lorenzo the Magnificent's younger brother, Giuliano. His "beautiful lady" was Simonetta Vespucci, with whom Giuliano was hopelessly in love and, apparently, he was not alone. The beauty was subsequently depicted by Botticelli in the form of Pallas Athena on the Giuliano standard. After this tournament, Botticelli took a strong position among the closest circle of the Medici and his place in the official life of the city.

His regular customer is Lorenzo Pierfrancesco Medici, the Magnificent's cousin. Soon after the tournament, even before the artist left for Rome, he ordered several works for him. Even in his early youth, Botticelli gained experience in painting portraits, this characteristic test of the artist's skill. Becoming famous throughout Italy, starting in the late 1470s, Botticelli received more and more lucrative orders from clients outside Florence. In 1481, Pope Sixtus IV invited the painters Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Pietro Perugino and Cosimo Rosselli to Rome to decorate the walls of the papal chapel called the Sistine Chapel with frescoes. The wall painting was completed in a remarkably short period of only eleven months, from July 1481 to May 1482. Botticelli performed three scenes. After returning from Rome, he painted a number of paintings on mythological themes. The artist finishes the painting "Spring", begun before departure. During this time, important events took place in Florence that influenced the mood inherent in this work. Originally, the theme for writing "Spring" was drawn from the poem "Tournament" by Poliziano, which glorified Giuliano Medici and his beloved Simonetta Vespucci. However, in the time elapsed from the beginning of the work to its completion, the beautiful Simonetta suddenly died, and Giuliano himself, with whom the artist had a friendship, was villainously killed.

This was reflected in the mood of the picture, bringing into it a note of sadness and understanding of the transience of life.

The Birth of Venus was written a few years after Spring. It is not known who from the Medici family was her customer. Around the same time, Botticelli writes episodes from "The History of Nastagio degli Onesti" (Boccaccio "Decameron"), "Pallas and the Centaur" and "Venus and Mars". In the last years of his reign, Lorenzo the Magnificent, 1490, summoned the famous preacher Fra Girolamo Savonarola to Florence. Apparently, this Magnificent wanted to strengthen his authority in the city.

But the preacher, a militant champion of the observance of church dogmas, entered into sharp conflict with the secular authorities of Florence. He managed to win many supporters in the city. Many talented, religious people of art fell under his influence, and Botticelli could not resist. Joy and worship of Beauty have gone forever from his work. If the previous Madonnas appeared in the solemn grandeur of the Queen of Heaven, now she is a pale, with eyes full of tears, a woman who has experienced and experienced a lot. The artist began to gravitate more towards religious subjects, even among the official orders he was primarily attracted by paintings on biblical themes. This period of creativity is marked by the painting The Coronation of the Virgin Mary, commissioned for the chapel of the jeweler's workshop. His last great work on a secular theme was "Slander", but with all the talent of its execution, it lacks the luxuriously decorated, decorative style inherent in Botticelli. In 1493, Florence was shocked by the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent.

Savonarola's fiery speeches were heard throughout the city. In the city, which was the cradle of humanistic thought in Italy, there was a reassessment of values. In 1494, the heir to the Magnificent, Pierrot, and other Medici were expelled from the city. During this period, Botticelli continued to be greatly influenced by Savonarola. All this affected his work, in which a deep crisis came. Longing and sadness blows from the two "Lamentation of Christ" Savonarola's sermons about the end of the world, the Day of Judgment and God's punishment led to the fact that on February 7, 1497, thousands of people set up a fire in the central square of the Signoria, where they burned the most valuable works of art taken from wealthy houses: furniture, clothes, books, paintings, decorations. Among them, who succumbed to psychosis, were artists. (Lorenzo de Credi, Botticelli's former companion, destroyed several of his nude sketches.)

Botticelli was in the square and, some biographers of those years, write that, succumbing to the general mood, he burned several sketches (the paintings were with the customers), but there is no exact evidence. With the support of Pope Alexander VI, Savonarola was accused of heresy and sentenced to death.

The public execution had a great effect on Botticelli. He writes "Mystical Birth", where he shows his attitude to what is happening.

The last of the paintings are dedicated to two heroines of Ancient Rome - Lucretia and Virginia. Both girls, for the sake of honor, accepted death, which pushed the people to the removal of the rulers. The paintings symbolize the expulsion of the Medici family and the restoration of Florence as a republic. According to his biographer, Giorgio Vasari, the painter was tormented at the end of his life by illness and weakness.

He became "so stooped that he had to walk with two sticks." Botticelli was not married, he had no children.

He died alone, at the age of 65 and was buried near the monastery of Santa Maria Novella.

Creativity of the Italian painter

His art, designed for educated connoisseurs, imbued with motives of neo-Platonic 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 continues 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 become firmly established in the minds. But the documents of the late 15th - early 16th centuries do not confirm such an interpretation of his personality and do not always confirm the data of the biography of Sandro Botticelli, written by Vasari.

The first work undoubtedly belonging to Botticelli - "Allegory of Power" (Florence, Uffizi), belongs to 1470. It was part of the Seven Virtues series (the rest were performed by Piero Pollaiolo) for the Merchant Court. Botticelli's disciple soon became the later famous Filippino Lippi, the son of Fra Filippo, who died in 1469. January 20, 1474 on the occasion of the feast of St. Sebastian's painting Saint Sebastian by Sandro Botticelli was exhibited in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Florence.

Allegory of the power of Saint Sebastian

In the same year, Sandro Botticelli was invited to Pisa to work on the Camposanto frescoes. For some unknown reason, he did not fulfill them, but in the Cathedral of Pisa he painted the fresco "The Assumption of Our Lady", which died in 1583. In the 1470s, Botticelli became close to the Medici family and the "Medici circle" - poets and philosophers-Neoplatonists (Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola , Angelo Poliziano). On January 28, 1475, Lorenzo the Magnificent's brother 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, painted a fresco over the gateway della Dogana, which led to the Palazzo Vecchio. It depicted the hanging conspirators (this painting was destroyed on November 14, 1494 after the flight of Piero 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 people close to them are shown in the images of the Eastern wise men and their retinue. At the right edge of the picture, the artist depicted himself.

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 painting, which combines the motives of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, has not been fully explained to this day and is obviously inspired by both Neoplatonic cosmogony and the events in the Medici family.

The early period of Botticelli's work is completed by the fresco "St. Augustine ”(1480, Florence, Church of Onisanti), commissioned by the Vespucci family. It is a pair of Domenico Ghirlandaio's composition “St. Jerome ”in the same church. The soulful passion of the image of Augustine contrasts with the proseism of Jerome, clearly demonstrating the differences between the deep, emotional creativity of Botticelli and the solid craft of Ghirlandaio.

In 1481, together 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 Korea, Dathan and Aviron".

In the 1480s, Botticelli continued to work for the Medici and other noble Florentine families, painting both secular and religious subjects. Around 1483, together with Filippino Lippi, Perugino and Ghirlandaio, he worked in Volterra at the Villa 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 the time before 1487. Together with the previously created "Spring", it became a kind of iconic image, the personification of both Botticelli's art and the refined culture of the Medicare court.

The two best tondos (round paintings) by Botticelli - "Madonna Magnificat" and "Madonna of the Pomegranate" (both - Florence, Uffizi), also belong to the 1480s. The latter may have been intended for the audience hall in Palazzo Vecchio.

Madonna Magnificat Madonna of the Pomegranate

It is believed that since the late 1480s, Sandro Botticelli was strongly influenced by the sermons of the Dominican Girolamo Savonarola, who denounced the order of the contemporary Church and called for repentance.

Vasari writes that Botticelli was an adherent of the "sect" of Savonarola and even abandoned 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 this opinion. At the same time, the wife of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco, in a letter dated November 25, 1495, reports that Botticelli was painting the Medici Villa in Trebbio with frescoes, and on July 2, 1497, from the same Lorenzo, the artist received a loan for the execution of decorative paintings in the Villa Castello (not preserved). In the same 1497, more than three hundred supporters of Savonarola signed a petition to Pope Alexander VI with a request 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 his 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 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 personality. 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 our city at that time, in my presence, sitting at home by the hearth, at about three o'clock in the morning, he told how on that day, in his bottega at the house, Sandro talked with Doffo Spini about the case of Frate Girolamo. " Spini was the chief judge in the trial against Savonarola.

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

Laying in the grave Mystical Christmas

However, the later works of the master are not stylized.

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 artist did not have enough specifics of the real world. One of the most sensitive painters of Quattrocento, Botticelli very early felt the impending crisis of the humanist 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 at the end of the 1460s ("Portrait of a Man with a Medal", 1466-1477, Florence, Uffizi; "Portrait of Giuliano Medici", circa 1475, Berlin, State Assemblies). In the best portraits of the master, the spirituality and sophistication of the characters' appearance are combined with a kind of hermeticism that sometimes traps them in arrogant suffering ("Portrait of a Young Man", New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art).

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

Botticelli began to execute the sheets of the Medici Codex after returning from Rome, using in part his first compositions. Preserved 92 sheets (85 - in the Cabinet of Prints in Berlin, 7 - in the Vatican Library). The drawings were made with silver and lead pins; the artist then outlined their thin gray line in brown or black ink. Four sheets are painted with tempera. Many sheets of paper have incomplete or no ink strokes. It is these illustrations that make it especially clear to feel the beauty of Botticelli's light, accurate, nervous line.

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 further writes, “that he loved above all those about whom he knew that they were diligent in their art, and that he earned a lot, but everything went to pieces for him, since he was a poor manager and was careless. In the end, he became decrepit and unable to work and walked, leaning on two sticks ... " allow you to judge 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 estimated at 156 florins. True, since 1503 the master has a debt on contributions to the guild of St. Luke, but a record dated October 18, 1505 says that he has been fully paid off. The fact that the elderly Botticelli continued to enjoy fame 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 informs her from Florence that Perugino is in Siena, Filippino Lippi is too burdened with orders, but there is also Botticelli, who "we 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 a member of the commission that discussed the choice of location for the installation of 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.

Interesting facts: the origin of the nickname "Botticelli"

The artist's real name is Alessandro Filipepi (for Sandro's friends).

He was the youngest of four sons of Mariano Filipepi and his wife Zmeralda and was born in Florence in 1445. By profession, Mariano was a tanner and lived with his family in the Santa Maria Novella quarter of Via Nuova, where he rented an apartment in a house owned by Rucellai. He had his own workshop near the Santa Trinita in Oltrarno bridge, the business brought a very modest income, and old Filipepi dreamed of finding a place for his sons as soon as possible and finally having the opportunity to leave the laborious craft.

The first mentions of Alessandro, like other Florentine artists, we find in the so-called "portate al Catasto" families.

So in 1458, Mariano Filipepi indicated that he had four sons Giovanni, Antonio, Simone and 13-year-old Sandro, and added that Sandro “learns to read, he is a sick boy”. Filipepi's four brothers brought the family significant income and position in society. The Philipepi owned houses, land, vineyards and shops.

The origin of Sandro's nickname - "Botticelli" is still in doubt.

Perhaps the curious street nickname "Botticella", meaning "Keg", slender and dexterous maestro Sandro inherited from his fatherly fat man Giovanni, Sandro's older brother, who became a broker and played the role of financial intermediary with the government.

Apparently, Giovanni, wishing to help his aging father, was involved in raising his youngest child a lot. But maybe the nickname arose out of consonance with the jewelry craft of his second brother, Antonio. However, no matter how we interpret the document cited, the art of jewelry played an important role in the formation of the young Botticelli, for it was in this direction that the same brother Antonio directed him. Alessandro's father sent Alessandro to the jeweler (“a certain Botticello,” as Vasari writes, a person whose identity has not been established to this day), tired of his “extravagant mind”, gifted and capable of learning, but restless and still not finding the true vocations; perhaps Mariano wanted his youngest son to follow in the footsteps of Antonio, who had worked as a goldsmith since at least 1457, to start a small but reliable family business.

According to Vasari, there was such a close connection between jewelers and painters at that time that entering the workshop of some meant gaining direct access to the craft of others, and Sandro, who had become quite adept at drawing - an art necessary for accurate and confident "blackening", soon became interested in painting and decided to devote himself to it, while not forgetting the most valuable lessons of jewelry art, in particular clarity in the outline of contour lines and the skillful use of gold, which was later often used by the artist as an admixture to paints or in its pure form for the background.

A crater on Mercury is named after Botticelli.

Bibliography

Botticelli, Sandro // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb., 1890-1907.
Go to: 1 2 3 4 Giorgio Vasari. Biographies of the most famous painters, sculptors and architects. - M .: ALFA-KNIGA, 2008.
Titus Lucretius Kar. About the nature of things. - M .: Fiction, 1983.
Dolgopolov I.V. Masters and masterpieces. - Moscow: Fine Arts, 1986. - T. I.
Benois A. The history of painting of all times and peoples. - M .: Neva, 2004 .-- T. 2.

When writing this article, materials from the following sites were used:bottichelli.infoall.info ,

If you find inaccuracies or want to supplement this article, send us information by email [email protected] site, we and our readers will be very grateful to you.

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 motives of neo-Platonic 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 continues 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 become firmly established in the minds. But the documents of the late 15th - early 16th centuries do not confirm such an interpretation of his personality and do not always confirm the data of the biography of Sandro Botticelli, written Vasari.

Self-portrait by Sandro Botticelli. Detail of the painting "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 (Onisanti). Two brothers Botticelli - Giovanni and Simone - were engaged in trade, the third - Antonio - in jewelry. The brothers' trade activities are associated with the origin of Sandro's nickname - "botticelle" ("keg"). However, Vasari reports that this was the name of the godfather of the artist's father, Mariano, a jeweler to whom Sandro was sent to study. There is another, perhaps the closest to the truth, version, according to which the nickname passed to Sandro Botticelli from his 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 information that in 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. The first work undoubtedly belonging to Botticelli - "Allegory of Power" (Florence, Uffizi), belongs to 1470. It was part of the Seven Virtues series (the rest are performed Piero Pollaiolo) for the hall of the Commercial Court. Botticelli's student 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's painting Saint Sebastian by Sandro Botticelli was exhibited in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Florence.

In the same year, Sandro Botticelli was invited to Pisa to work on the Camposanto frescoes. For some unknown reason, he did not fulfill them, but in the Cathedral of Pisa he painted the fresco "The Assumption of Our Lady", which died in 1583. In the 1470s, Botticelli became close to the Medici family and the "Medici circle" - poets and philosophers-Neoplatonists (Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola , Angelo Poliziano). 28 January 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, painted a fresco over the gateway della Dogana, which led to the Palazzo Vecchio. It depicted the hanging conspirators (this painting was destroyed on November 14, 1494 after the flight of Piero Medici from Florence).

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 painting, which combines the motives of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, has not been fully explained to this day and is obviously inspired by both Neoplatonic cosmogony and the 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, Church of Onisanti), commissioned by the Vespucci family. She makes up a pair of compositions by Domenico Ghirlandaio"St. Jerome ”in the same church. The soulful passion of the image of Augustine contrasts with the proseism of Jerome, clearly demonstrating the differences between the deep, emotional creativity of Botticelli and the solid craft of Ghirlandaio.

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

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

In the 1480s, Botticelli continued to work for the Medici and other noble Florentine families, painting both secular and religious subjects. Around 1483, together with Filippino Lippi, Perugino and Ghirlandaio he worked in Volterra at the Villa Spedaletto, owned by Lorenzo the Magnificent. The famous painting by Sandro Botticelli "The Birth of Venus" (Florence, Uffizi), made for Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco, dates back to the time before 1487. Together with the previously created "Spring", it became a kind of iconic image, the personification of both Botticelli's art and the refined culture of the Medicare court.

Sandro Botticelli. Birth of Venus. OK. 1485

It is believed that since the late 1480s, Sandro Botticelli was strongly influenced by the sermons of the Dominican Girolamo Savonarola, who denounced the order of the contemporary Church and called for repentance. Vasari writes that Botticelli was an adherent of the "sect" of Savonarola and even abandoned 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 this opinion. At the same time, the wife of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco, in a letter dated November 25, 1495, reports that Botticelli was painting the Medici Villa in Trebbio with frescoes, and on July 2, 1497, from the same Lorenzo, the artist received a loan for the execution of decorative paintings in the Villa Castello (not preserved). In the same 1497, more than three hundred supporters of Savonarola signed a petition to Pope Alexander VI with a request 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 his new home on Via Servi. Among the paintings that adorned him were The History of the Roman Virginia (Bergamo, Carrara Academy) and The History of the Roman 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 personality. 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 our city at that time, in my presence, sitting at home by the hearth, at about three o'clock in the morning, he told how on that day, in his bottega at 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 over Christ (Entry). OK. 1490

Sandro Botticelli. Mystical Christmas. OK. 1490

However, the later works of the master are not stylized. 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 artist did not have enough specifics of the real world. One of the most sensitive painters of Quattrocento, Botticelli very early felt the impending crisis of the humanist 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 at the end of the 1460s ("Portrait of a Man with a Medal", 1466-1477, Florence, Uffizi; "Portrait of Giuliano Medici", circa 1475, Berlin, State Assemblies). In the best portraits of the master, the spirituality and sophistication of the characters' appearance are combined with a kind of hermeticism that sometimes traps them in arrogant suffering ("Portrait of a Young Man", New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art).

Sandro Botticelli. Young woman portrait. After 1480

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

Sandro Botticelli. Hell Card (Circles of Hell - La mappa dell inferno). Illustration for Dante's Divine Comedy. 1480th

Sandro Botticelli. Hell. Illustration for Dante's Divine Comedy. 1480th

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 further writes, “that he loved above all those about whom he knew that they were diligent in their art, and that he earned a lot, but everything went to pieces for him, since he was a poor manager and was careless. In the end, he became decrepit and unable to work and walked, leaning on two sticks ... " , partly allow one to judge 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 estimated at 156 florins. True, since 1503 the master has a debt on contributions to the guild of St. Luke, but a record dated October 18, 1505 says that he has been fully paid off. The fact that the elderly Botticelli continued to enjoy fame 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 informs her from Florence that Perugino is in Siena, Filippino Lippi too burdened with orders, but there is also Botticelli, who “praise me a lot.” The trip to Mantua did not take place for some reason. - Zeuxis and Apelles. On January 25, 1504, the master was a member of the commission that discussed the choice of location for the installation of Michelangelo's "David." The last four and a half years of Sandro Botticelli's life are not documented. died in May 1510 and on May 17 was buried in the cemetery of the Church of Onisanti, as There are records of the "Book of the Dead" of Florence and the same book of the workshop 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 Holofernes's body", "Return of Judith to Bethulia" (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 Collections), Lorenzo Tornabuoni and the Seven Liberal Arts, Giovanna degli Albizzi and Virtues - frescoes from Villa Lemmy (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 on the plot of Boccaccio's short 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 Collections ), "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, Art Gallery of Old Masters)," 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)," Transfiguration "(c. 1495, Rome, Pallavicini collection)," Abandoned "(c. 1495, Rome, Rospillosi collection)," Judith with the head of Holofernes "(c. 1495, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum), four compositions on the history of St. Zenovia (1495-1500; two - London, National Gallery, one - New York, Metropolitan Museum, one - Dresden, Art Gallery of the Old Masters), "Prayer for the Cup" (c. 1499, Granada, Royal Chapel), The Symbolic Crucifixion (1500-1505, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Fogg Art Museum).

Literature about Botticelli: Vasari 2001.Vol. 2; Dakhnovich A.S. Botticelli's creativity and eternal questions. Kiev, 1915; Bernson B. Florentine Renaissance painters. M., 1923; Grashchenkov V.N. Botticelli. M., 1960; Botticelli: Sat. materials about creativity. 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 the Renaissance Artists // Dante Readings. M., 1982; Sonina T.V."Spring" by Botticelli // Italian collection. SPb., 1996. Issue. one; Sonina T.V. Drawings by Botticelli for Dante's Divine Comedy: Traditional and Original // Book in the Culture of the Renaissance. M., 2002; Ulmann H. Sandro Botticelli. München, 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; Lippmann F. Zeichnungen von Sandro Botticelli zu Dantes Göttlicher 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