Sandro Botticelli

by David Ball-Romney

Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, better known by his nickname “Botticelli,” was born in Florence, Italy on March 1, 1445. Less than a century later, the biographer Giorgio Vasari, who wrote about the lives of many great painters, would write much of what we think we know about Botticelli today. Unfortunately, historians have great doubts about the accuracy of some of what Italy’s first art historian wrote. Vasari coined the term “Renaissance” and said that during his time, this movement was at its “Golden Age”. He constantly praised the Medici clan throughout “Lives of the Artists” which was a good idea for those wanting to live well in Florence at that time. We may safely conclude that Botticelli was as influenced by their wishes as he was by the instruction of the artists under whom he studied.
Mariano, Botticelli’s father, came from a working class family. “Disturbed by the boy’s whimsical mind, his father placed him with a goldsmith, a friend of his named Botticello, a quite competent master of that trade in those days.” (Vasari, 224) Botticello’s technique, rich with Gothic forms, would influence Botticelli throughout his career, but this work brought him into contact with many artists, and he desperately wanted to pursue painting as his vocation. His father acquiesced, apprenticing him to the Early Renaissance artist Fra Filippo Lippi.
Fra Filippo taught Botticelli Masaccio’s fresco technique, and his method for painting more based upon what he felt, rather than a merely realistic approach. He mastered the tempera technique. He surpassed Fra Filippo, “... the characteristic heavy lines of Fra Filippo’s hand have given way to Botticelli’s clean, slender lines, to his unique airy compositions where lines pursue one another, intertwine, then break way again in slow-moving rhythms. (Gramercy Books, 14)
In 1467, Botticelli left Fra Filippo to work for Verrocchio and the (two) Pollaiuolo brothers, who emphasized the naturalistic rather than the idealistic approach. They taught Botticelli techniques about movement of the human body and perspective. He combined these with what he already knew to master his technique, to become a great master. In 1470, the brothers gave Botticelli a commission from “the Tribunal of the Arts della Mercanzia” for a series of "Virtues,” originally a project from the Medici patrons, and he opened his own workshop. Fortitude is perhaps the work that did the most for his career at this time.
The Medicis favored the Neo-platonic school of thought and appreciated Botticelli’s portrayal of their sentiments. “Neoplatonism, with its fusion of pagan and Christian themes and its elevation of estheticism as a transcendental element of art, was deeply influential in his artwork, as it was with his patrons, the Medicis.” (Wikipedia, “Sandro Botticelli”) Therefore, they commissioned work from him, which in turn simultaneously increased his popularity as he helped to spread their favored philosophies. Having the favor of politically powerful people gave Botticelli a measure of freedom of expression that he might not have had otherwise.
With this help from the Medici family, Botticelli created many works containing references to non-Christian mythology and medieval courtly love, notably Primavera and Birth of Venus. He also painted many nudes and produced several works in the tondo form. His Adoration of the Magi is thought to contain the most beautiful depiction of the luminaries of the Medici family of the time. In 1481 he and other artists were summoned by the Pope to paint frescoes on the newly built Sistene Chapel.
The Medici family lost its political potency in Florence, for a brief period of time after the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent, and from approximately 1494 - 1497, a religious figure named Girolamo Savonarola ruled instead. Many of Botticelli’s paintings are no longer extant, perhaps as a direct result. Savonarola cracked down on practices that did not fit within the confines of what he deemed approprate Christian behavior.
Botticelli appeared to have a change of heart about the Neo-platonism that he had espoused in his paintings, during this time of mob hysteria. Whether or not he actually changed his attitudes, he definitely changed his behavior, he even used thicker and harsher elements to compliment his strict adherence to the prevailing doctine. In 1497 Savonarola’s followers staged “The Bonfire of the Vanities”: “They sent boys from door to door collecting items associated with moral laxity: mirrors, cosmetics, lewd pictures, pagan books, gaming tables, fine dresses, and the works of immoral poets, and burnt them all in a large pile in the Piazza della Signoria of Florence.”(Wikipedia, “Girolamo Savonarola”)  Botticelli actively participated; rather than being seen as one of the elements criticized by Savonarola, he penitently threw the offending works onto the bonfire himself. Historians often seem critical of his change of heart, but this may very well have been an exercize in self-preservation. Savonarola increasingly irritated many people, including Pope Alexander VI, who excommunicated him in 1497, leaving him vulnerable to the angry mob who simultaneously burned and hanged him in 1498.
After the Bonfire of the Vanities, Botticelli’s career was never quite the same. For some reason, perhaps because of emotions accompanying the fact that he had recently destroyed much of his life’s work, he felt less inclined to paint. “...[H]e earned a great deal of money but wasted all of it badly through poor management and carelessness. Finally, after he had grown old and useless and had to walk with two canes... he died sick and decrepit, at the age of seventy-eight....” (Vasari, 230)

Works Cited

Gramercy Books. Sandro Botticelli: His Life and Works. Avenel, New Jersey: Random House Value Publishing, Inc., 1993.

Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. “Sandro Botticelli.” 8 December 2005, 18 Dec. 2005 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandro_Botticelli>. and “Girolamo Savonarola.” 13 December 2005, 18 Dec. 2005 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savonarolai>.

Vasari, Giorgio, The Lives of the Artists. Trans. Julia Conaway and Peter Bondanella. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1991.