Art

Sandro Botticelli

c. 1445–1510 · Florentine (Italian)

Early Renaissance

Sandro Botticelli was a Florentine painter of the Early Renaissance, patronised by the Medici circle. His large mythological paintings, above all The Birth of Venus and Primavera, revived classical subjects on a scale unseen since antiquity and are among the most famous images in Western art.

How to spot them

▸Graceful, elongated figures with flowing golden hair, wistful faces and fluttering, linear drapery
▸Classical mythology treated decoratively, with little interest in deep perspective — figures seem to float
▸Quiz clue: 'Medici', 'Uffizi', 'scallop shell', 'Zephyr', 'Savonarola', or a nickname meaning 'little barrel'

Key works

The Birth of Venus (c. 1484–1486)

Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Venus arrives on a scallop shell, blown ashore by Zephyr

Image: Sandro Botticelli · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

Primavera (c. 1477–1482)

Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Allegory of spring in an orange grove: Venus, the Three Graces, Mercury, Flora and Zephyr chasing Chloris

Image: Sandro Botticelli · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

Venus and Mars (c. 1485)

National Gallery, London

Mars sleeps, disarmed by love, while baby satyrs play with his armour

Image: Sandro Botticelli · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

The Mystical Nativity (c. 1500–1501)

National Gallery, London

His only signed and dated work, with an apocalyptic Greek inscription

Image: Sandro Botticelli · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

Adoration of the Magi (c. 1475)

Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Includes members of the Medici family and a probable self-portrait gazing out at the viewer

Image: Sandro Botticelli · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

Quick-fire facts

•His real name was Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi; 'Botticelli' means 'little barrel'
•He trained with Fra Filippo Lippi
•In 1481–1482 he painted frescoes on the walls of the Sistine Chapel
•In later life he came under the influence of the preacher Savonarola
•He is buried in the church of Ognissanti, Florence; legend links his ideal of beauty to Simonetta Vespucci
•He made drawings illustrating Dante's Divine Comedy, including a famous Map of Hell
•His reputation faded after his death and was revived in the 19th century, notably by the Pre-Raphaelites

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Sources

Encyclopaedia Britannica — Sandro Botticelli
E. H. Gombrich — The Story of Art