Sandro Botticelli

@Miscellaneous, Career and Childhood

Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, popularly known as Sandro Botticelli, was an Italian painter

1445

Renaissance ArtistsItalianArtists & PaintersArtistsRenaissance PaintersMiscellaneous
Biography

Personal Details

  • Birthday: 1445
  • Died on: May 17, 15101445
  • Nationality: Italian
  • Famous: Renaissance Artists, Artists & Painters, Artists, Renaissance Painters, Miscellaneous
  • Siblings: Antonio di Vanni Filipepi, Giovanni di Vanni Filipepi, Simone di Mariano Filipepi
  • Known as: Botticelli, Sandro, Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, Sandro Filipepi
  • Birth Place: Florence, Republic of Florence

Sandro Botticelli born at

Florence, Republic of Florence

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Birth Place

He was neither married nor in favour of such a move and expressed that the very thought of marriage horrifies him.

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Personal Life

It was commonly believed that he had gone through unrequited love of a married noblewoman, Simonetta Vespucci, who supposedly remained his model for the painting ‘The Birth of Venus’. She found place in many of his other works even after her death.

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Personal Life

The Florentine Archives maintains a summary of a sodomy charge against him dated November 16, 1502 that states, “Botticelli keeps a boy”, which was later dropped.

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Personal Life

He was born as Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi in Via Nuova, Borg'Ognissanti In c. 1445, in Florence city in the family of an older couple, Mariano di Vanni d'Amedeo Filipepi and Smeralda.

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Childhood & Early Life

He was the youngest of the four boys of the couple. He was a fragile child and remained so all through his life. He received training as a goldsmith from his brother Antonio, who himself was a goldsmith.

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Childhood & Early Life

From around 1460, he came under the guidance of one of the finest artists of the early Renaissance, Fra Filippo Lippi as an apprentice. This might imply that he received a more comprehensive education than his counterparts, although not much is known about his early life.

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Childhood & Early Life

He was inspired by the lifelike and three-dimensional paintings of the first great Italian painter of the Rennaisance in Italy - Masaccio. He learnt to paint in a more intimate and comprehensive way from his first master Lippi who became very close to him. Before his death, Lippi asked Sandro Botticelli to guide his son.

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Childhood & Early Life

He was from the Florentine school of art and was aided and backed by one of the most enthusiastic patrons of the Renaissance - Lorenzo de' Medici.

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Childhood & Early Life

His early works were more dominated by human figures which are apparent from the tempera paintings on panels like ‘Madonna with Child’ (c. 1467), ‘Potrait of a Young Man’ (c. 1469), ‘Fortitude’ (1470) and ‘St. Sebastian’ (1474). Clear outlines define the figures most of which display thoughtfulness and melancholy. He set up his own workshop sometime around 1470.

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Career

His painting ‘Adoration of the Magi’ (c.1475) features portrait of Cosimo de Medici (grandfather of Lorenzo de' Medici) along with that of his sons Giovanni and Piero and grandsons Giuliano and Lorenzo. Vasari considered it as one of the masterpieces of Botticelli.

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Career

His work consists of a number of fresco paintings such as ‘The Birth of Christ’ (1476-77) at the ‘Basilica of Santa Maria Novella’ and ‘St. Augustine’ (1480) at Ognissanti in Florence.

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Career

In 1481 Pope Sixtus IV instructed eminent Umbrian and Florentine painters including Botticelli to decorate the walls of the ‘Sistine Chapel’, Vatican with frescos. ‘St. Sixtus II’, ‘Punishment of Korah, Dathan and Abiram’, ‘The Temptation of Christ’ and ‘The Trials of Moses’ are his four frescos at the Chapel which were painted during 1481 to 1482.

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Career

During the mid-1480s he along with other artists Domenico, Filippino Lippi, Perugino and Ghirlandaio decorated the villa of his patron Lorenzo de' Medici which was situated near Volterra.

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Career

His fame and success saw meteoric rise following backing of the influential Medici family which resulted in the Papacy selecting him among other great artists for fresco work in the ‘Sistine Chapel’, Vatican. During that era it was considered the greatest honor and endorsement for any artist to get a Papal sanction for such work.

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Major Works

Giorgio Vasari found the two masterpieces of Sandro Botticelli, the ‘Primavera’ (c. 1482) and ‘The Birth of Venus’ (c. 1485) in the Castello villa of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici (cousin of Lorenzo the Magnificent). Both the tempera paintings showcase Botticelli’s earlier style reflecting thoughtfulness and melancholy of the figures. The ambiguous yet enthralling subjects of the paintings garnered all-round attention from scholars.

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Major Works