“Madonna and Child”, Sandro Botticelli - description of the painting. Enchanted Soul Interesting facts: the origin of the nickname “Botticelli”

This often happens in the life of an amateur: you just discovered America, you just started to rejoice and be proud, and then bam - it turns out that it was discovered long before you! Well, first things first.

Every city has a must-see place. In Paris this is, of course, the Louvre, in Rome - the Coliseum, in St. Petersburg - the Hermitage, and in Florence - the Uffizi Gallery.

Of course, there is a lot to see in Florence besides the gallery, David alone is worth it!

This, as you guessed, is not the real David, but the real one here

The fact that the Uffizi Gallery is an obligatory point on any tourist route in Florence creates certain difficulties in getting into it. Our recommendation: book tickets in advance online herehttp://www.florence-museum.com/booking-tickets.php . Printed reservations must be exchanged for tickets at the gallery office opposite the main entrance. Well, then you have to stand in a tiny queue of advanced tourists just like you (compared to the huge neighboring queue of not advanced ones).

Finally, you are inside. Not everyone can try to walk through the entire gallery at once. normal person, so you need to look first of all at the very best! For us, the paintings of the great painter of the Florentine era became such “the very best”RenaissanceSandro Botticelli.

His real name is Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi. Botticelli, or roughly translated “from the family of barrels”, is rather a nickname that the thin Sandro “inherited” after his older brother - a fat man and truly a real “barrel” (such a special Florentine logic).

IN Uffizi gallery Several rooms are dedicated to his works. “The Birth of Venus”, “Spring”, portraits of Dante and Giuliano Medici - these works by Botticelli have been known almost since school.

But reproductions in a textbook are one thing, but here are the originals, here they are, at arm’s length. An unforgettable experience! Looking at the paintings, I come to a completely unexpected conclusion that all the “main female roles” in the majority of Botticelli’s paintings presented in the Uffizi Gallery are given to the same “actress”! It seems that most of his paintings actually depict the same woman! The wife standing next to him comes to the same conclusion. Can't be? Judge for yourself

As we found out later, the secret of the stranger in Botticelli’s paintings was discovered back in the 16th century by the Italian painter Giorgio Vasari.

Vasari lived in Florence almost thirty years after Botticelli's death. As an artist, Vasari did not succeed, although at one time he was a student of Michelangelo himself. But he actually became the founder of modern art criticism, writing main work of your life - meeting 178biographies of Italian Renaissance artists " Lives of the most famous painters, sculptors and architects». It was in this work, published in 1568, that Giorgio Vasari put forward a hypothesis regarding the name of the woman whom Sandro Botticelli glorified in almost all of his works. According to Vasari, this woman is Simonetta Vespucci, the first beauty of Florence in the second half of the 15th century.

Contemporaries considered her beauty to be a divine gift, the embodiment of a perfect plan, and for her beauty the girl received the nickname Incomparable and Beautiful Simonetta.

In April 146916-year-old Simonetta married her peer Marco Vespucci, distant relative future famous Florentine navigatorAmerigo Vespucci And,after which the new continent discovered by Columbus will be named (another example of a peculiar logic). I didn’t find a portrait of Marco Vespucci, but Amerigo is here

Of course, Simonetta Vespucci was inaccessible to Botticelli:

- But what does she care about me - she was in Paris,

- Marcel Marceau himself told her something!

After all, he is a simple, albeit fashionable, painter, but she is the wife of one of the bankers of the Medici family ruling in Florence, the one whose favor was sought by all Florentine noble men, including the ruler of the city, Lorenzo the Magnificent (here is his bust from the collection of the Uffizi Gallery)

as well as his younger brother Giuliano (here is his portrait by Botticelli):

With all this, Sandro, if he wanted, could admire Simonetta Vespucci every day - their house was adjacent to the Vespucci Palazzo. Did Simonetta know about Sandro’s existence? If she knew, then most likely she hardly attached any significance to this knowledge. But for Botticelli it was ideal woman. This is confirmed by the fact that “The Birth of Venus”, and “Spring”, and “Venus and Mars”, as well as “Portrait of a Young Woman” were written by the artist after the death of Simonetta, who died suddenly on April 26, 1476 at the age of 23 at the height of the tuberculosis epidemic that broke out in Florence. Thus, Botticelli returns to the image of Simonetta again and again, even 9 years after her death. But does it suit her image? After all, Simonetta’s lifetime photographs known reasons are missing, and no clearly attributed portraits have survived. Most likely, Sandro was drawing a certain, in the words of the poet Mikhail Kuzmin, “for eternal ages, a symbol of fleeting youth,” embodied for him in Simonetta.

Sandro Botticelli never married, lived a long life, died at the age of 65 and, in accordance with his will, was buried in Florence in the Church of All Saints (Chiesa di Ognissanti), in which Simonetta Vespucci had previously been buried. We found this church, although just before it closed.

A black (!) Franciscan monk gave us a mini tour of the church.

This is such a love story.

But lastly, I would like to tell you one more thing that is no less romantic, but also cautionary tale about love.

In Botticelli’s painting “The Birth of Venus” in the upper left corner we can see such a strange couple: a floating young man with puffy cheeks and a girl who has wrapped her beau not only with her arms, but also with her legs!

This young man is Zephyr, the god of the western spring wind, in the picture he is driving a shell with a newly born Venus to the shore. And the girl - legal wife Zephyra, the Greek goddess of flowers Chloris, who was called Flora by the Romans.

At first, Chloris avoided Zephyr’s persistent advances and ignored him in every possible way. Here she is running away from the loving Zephyr in the right corner in Botticelli’s painting “Spring”.

In the end, Zephyr was overcome by such a wild passion that, having broken the Olympic record for catching up with girls, he overtook Chloris and took possession of her by force. Oh how! The result was that in the girl there arose no less, but a stronger, such a wild, forward, reciprocal passion for Zephyr that she clung to him with her whole body and never parted with him again, tightly wrapping her now husband with all her existing limbs .

And since then, Zephyr has always been with his wife Chlorida-Flora. And during the day, and at night, and on vacation, and at work, and at a concert, and at a banquet, and at football, and in the bathhouse at a meeting with classmates!

As they say, we ran into what we fought for! So study HISTORY!

Madonna and Child - Sandro Botticelli. Around 1467. Panel, tempera. 51 x 71 cm

You should start with the unusual color of the canvas. Unlike most of his paintings, which are characterized by a rich, but somewhat muted, delicate and delicate color scheme, this one is characterized by incredibly saturated predominant blue tones. The spectacular architectural forms in the background in the form of a wide rounded arch with an opening are painted white and slightly turquoise shade blue color.

The cloak of the Mother of God has a more saturated color. It creates a kind of lower frame of the canvas, while the arch becomes the frame for the most delicate family portrait.

It’s not just the intense blue color that’s surprising in this painting. Madonna's face is very delicate, porcelain-pale, with beautiful, but slightly irregular features. One gets the distinct impression that it was painted from life and reflects the appearance of a real-life woman - there is no stylization of the image characteristic of the recognizable faces of the characters in Botticelli’s paintings.

The blond Madonna attracts attention not only with her porcelain, delicate skin, but also with her unusual hairstyle, decorated with rich trimmings and frills made of light fabric, like on a cap. The lightest veil, transparent, airy and barely noticeable, falls onto the woman’s shoulders. Madonna is dressed in a red underdress with many folds and gathers. Here the artist did not deviate one iota from the canons - according to church rules, the Mother of God is always depicted in clothes that combine red and blue shades. Baby Christ is dressed in a snow-white toga wrapped around his plump, tender little body.

In the background one can see a landscape, as if framed by the outlines of a powerful arch. It is quite traditional for paintings of this period. The landscape depicts a rather tall, lonely tree on the edge of a cliff and a fantastic castle with thin towers stretching upward with very long spiers. The landscape is executed in a very restrained and noble muted tone. color scheme, including green and brown shades. Thanks to the modest choice of tones, this image does not compete with the intense colors of the foregrounds, especially the blue chiton of Our Lady.

But the interpretation of the image of the Madonna and the Child Christ is of particular interest. In most films on this topic, both characters have tough static poses, and the child looks unnatural, like a miniature copy of an adult. In the same picture, we see a young, charming mother playing with her baby, who lovingly stretches out his chubby little hands to her. The touching gesture - Madonna's hand gently touching the baby's chubby cheek - makes this picture very lively, natural and unusually impressive.

Biography of Sandro Botticelli very rich. Let's start with the fact that his name is a nickname. His real name was Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi. Sandro is short for Alessandro, but Botticelli’s nickname stuck to him because that was the name of one of the artist’s older brothers. Translated, this means “barrel”. He was born in Florence in 1445.

The father of the future artist was a tanner. Around 1458, little Sandro was already working as an apprentice in a jewelry workshop that belonged to one of his older brothers. But he did not stay there for long, and already in the early 1460s he was enrolled as an apprentice to the artist Fra Philippa Lippi.

The years in Lippi's art workshop were fun and productive. The artist and his student got along well with each other. Subsequently, Lippi himself became a student of Botticelli. Since 1467, Sandro opened his own workshop.

Botticelli completed his first order for the courtroom. This was in 1470. By 1475, Sandro Botticelli was a well-known and sought-after master. He began to create frescoes and paint paintings for churches.

Botticelli was considered “an insider” almost everywhere, including in wealthy royal families. So, Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, when he bought a villa for himself, invited Sandro Botticelli to live with him and paint pictures for the interior. It was at this time that Botticelli painted his two most famous paintings - “” and “”. Both paintings are presented on our website with detailed descriptions.

By 1481, Botticelli traveled to Rome at the invitation of Pope Sixtus IV. He took part in the mural, which had just been completed.

After his father's death in 1482, Botticelli returned to his native Florence. Having survived the tragedy, the artist took up paintings again. Customers flocked to his workshop, so some work was carried out by the master's apprentice, and he only took on more complex and prestigious orders. This time was the peak of Sandro Botticelli's fame. He was known as the best artist in Italy.

But ten years later the government changed. Savonarola ascended the throne, who despised the Medici, their luxury, and corruption. Botticelli had a hard time. In addition, in 1493, Botticelli’s brother Giovanni, whom he loved very much, died. Botticelli lost all support. Although this period did not last long, because in 1498 Savonarol was excommunicated and publicly burned at the stake, it was still very difficult.

Towards the end of his life, Botticelli was very lonely. About him former glory not a trace remained. He was rejected as an artist and no more orders were made. He died in 1510.

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 Early Renaissance. He was close to the Medici court and the humanist circles of Florence. Works on religious and mythological themes(“Spring”, circa 1477-1478; “Birth of Venus”, circa 1483-1484) are marked by inspired poetry, play of linear rhythms, and subtle color. Under the influence of the social upheavals of the 1490s, Botticelli’s art becomes intensely dramatic (“Slander”, after 1495). Drawings for Dante’s “Divine Comedy”, poignant, graceful portraits (“Giuliano de’ Medici”).

Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi was born in 1445 in Florence, the son of tanner Mariano di Vanni Filipepi and his wife Smeralda. After the death of his father, the head of the family became his elder brother, a wealthy stock exchange businessman, nicknamed Botticelli (“Barrel”), either because of his round figure, or because of his intemperance towards wine. This nickname spread to other brothers. (Giovanni, Antonio and Simone) The Filipepi brothers received elementary education in the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria Novella, for which Botticelli later carried out work. At first, the future artist, together with his middle brother Antonio, was sent to study jewelry making. The art of goldsmithing, a respected profession in the mid-15th century, taught him a lot.

Definition contour lines and the skillful use of gold, acquired by him as a jeweler, will forever remain in the artist’s work.

Antonio became a good jeweler, and Alessandro, having completed his training course, 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 workshop of the famous 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 his teacher. In Florence, the young artist, studying with Andreo de Verrocchio, where Leonardo da Vinci was studying at the same time, became famous. The first independent works of the artist, who worked in his father’s house from 1469, date back to this period.

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

In 1470 he received, with the support of Soderini, the first official order; Soderini brings Botticelli together with his nephews Lorenzo and Giuliano Medici. From that time on, his work, and this was his heyday, was associated with the name of the Medici. In 1472-75. he paints two small works depicting the story of Judith, apparently intended for cabinet doors. Three years after “Force 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. But he received his greatest fame when, around 1475, he performed the “Adoration of the Magi” for the monastery of Santa Maria Novella, where he depicted members of the Medici family surrounded by Mary. Florence during the reign of the Medici was a city of knightly tournaments, masquerades, and festive processions. On January 28, 1475, one of these tournaments took place in the city. It took place in Santa Corce Square, its main character was to be younger brother Lorenzo the Magnificent, Giuliano. His " beautiful lady“There was Simonetta Vespucci, with whom Giuliano was hopelessly in love and, apparently, he was not alone. The beauty was subsequently depicted by Botticelli as Pallas Athena on Giuliano's standard. After this tournament, Botticelli took a strong position among the inner circle of the Medici and his place in official life cities.

Lorenzo Pierfrancesco Medici, cousin of the Magnificent, becomes his regular customer. Soon after the tournament, even before the artist left for Rome, he ordered him several works. Also in early youth Botticelli gained experience in painting portraits, this characteristic test of the artist's skill. Having become famous throughout Italy, starting in the late 1470s, Botticelli received increasingly 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 over a surprisingly short period of only eleven months, from July 1481 to May 1482. Botticelli completed three scenes. After returning from Rome, he painted a number of paintings on mythological themes. The artist finishes the painting “Spring”, begun before his departure. During this time, important events occurred in Florence that influenced the mood inherent in this work. Initially, the theme for writing "Spring" was drawn from Poliziano's poem "The Tournament" in which Giuliano de' Medici and his lover Simonetta Vespucci were glorified. However, during the time that elapsed from the beginning of the work to its completion, the beautiful Simonetta died suddenly, and Giuliano himself, with whom the artist had a friendship, was villainously murdered.

This affected the mood of the picture, introducing into it a note of sadness and understanding of the transience of life.

"The Birth of Venus" was written several years later than "Spring". It is unknown who from the Medici family was its customer. Around the same time, Botticelli wrote episodes from "The History of Nastagio degli Onesti" (Boccaccio's Decameron), "Pallas and the Centaur" and "Venus and Mars". In the last years of his reign, Lorenzo the Magnificent, 1490, called the famous preacher Fra Girolamo Savonarola to Florence. Apparently, by doing this, the Magnificent wanted to strengthen his authority in the city.

But the preacher, a militant champion of observance of church dogmas, came into sharp conflict with the secular authorities of Florence. He managed to gain 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 disappeared from his work forever. If the previous Madonnas appeared in the solemn majesty of the Queen of Heaven, now she is a pale woman with eyes full of tears, who has experienced and experienced a lot. The artist began to gravitate more towards religious subjects; even among official orders, he was primarily attracted to 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 jewelers’ workshop. His last great job, on secular theme There was “Slander”, but in it, despite all the talent of 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, a reassessment of values ​​took place. In 1494, the heir of the Magnificent, Piero, and other Medici were expelled from the city. During this period, Botticelli continued to experience big influence Savonarola. All this affected his work, which experienced a deep crisis. Melancholy and sadness emanate from the two “Lamentations 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 made a bonfire in the central square of the Signoria, where they burned the most valuable works of art seized from rich 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 sketches of nude figures.)

Botticelli was in the square and, some biographers of those years write that, having succumbed general mood, 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 Ancient Rome- Lucretia and Virginia. Both girls, in order to save their honor, accepted death, which pushed the people to remove 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 by illness and infirmity at the end of his life.

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

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

Works of the Italian painter

His art, intended for educated connoisseurs, imbued with motifs of Neoplatonic philosophy, was not appreciated for a long time.

Near three centuries Botticelli was almost forgotten until mid-19th century century, interest in his work has not revived, which does not fade to this day.

Writers turn of XIX-XX centuries (R. Sizeran, P. Muratov) created a romantic-tragic image of the artist, which has since firmly established itself in the minds. But documents from the end of the 15th century - early XVI 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), dates back to 1470. It was part of the series “Seven Virtues” (the others were performed by Piero Pollaiuolo) for the hall of the Commercial Court. Botticelli's student soon became the later famous Filippino Lippi, son of Fra Filippo, who died in 1469. On 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 Power by Saint Sebastian

In the same year, Sandro Botticelli was invited to Pisa to work on the Camposanto frescoes. For an unknown reason, he did not complete them, but in the Pisa Cathedral 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 “Medice circle” - poets and Neoplatonist philosophers (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 plot to overthrow the Medici (April 26, 1478), Botticelli, commissioned by Lorenzo the Magnificent, painted a fresco over the Porta della Dogana, which led to the Palazzo Vecchio. It depicted the hanged conspirators (this painting was destroyed on November 14, 1494 after Piero de' Medici fled from Florence).

To the number best works Sandro Botticelli of the 1470s refers to “The Adoration of the Magi,” where members of the Medici family and people close to them are shown in the images of eastern sages 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- painting “Spring”.

It was intended for Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, with whom Botticelli was associated friendly relations. The plot of this painting, which combines motifs of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, has not yet been fully explained and is obviously inspired by both Neoplatonic cosmogony and events in the Medici family.

The early period of Botticelli’s work ends with the fresco “St. Augustine" (1480, Florence, Church of Ognisanti), commissioned by the Vespucci family. It is a pair of Domenico Ghirlandaio’s composition “St. Jerome" in the same temple. The spiritual passion of Augustine's image 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, 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 the Leper and the Temptation of Christ”, “The Youth of Moses” and “The Punishment of Korah, Dathan and Abiron”.

In the 1480s, Botticelli continued to work for the Medici and other noble Florentine families, producing paintings of 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 before 1487. Together with the previously created “Spring”, it became a kind of iconic image, the personification of both the art of Botticelli and the refined culture of the Medicean court.

The two best tondos (round paintings) by Botticelli date back to the 1480s - “Madonna Magnificat” and “Madonna with a Pomegranate” (both in Florence, Uffizi). The latter may have been intended for the audience hall in the Palazzo Vecchio.

Madonna Magnificat Madonna with Pomegranate

It is believed that from the late 1480s Sandro Botticelli was under strong influence sermons of the Dominican Girolamo Savonarola, who denounced the order of the contemporary Church and called for repentance.

Vasari writes that Botticelli was a follower of Savonarola’s “sect” 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 was painting the Villa Medici in Trebbio with frescoes, and on July 2, 1497, from the same Lorenzo the artist received a loan for the execution of decorative paintings at the Villa Castello (not preserved). In the same 1497, more than three hundred Savonarola supporters signed a petition to Pope Alexander VI asking him to lift the excommunication from the Dominican. The name Sandro Botticelli was not found among these signatures. In March 1498, Guidantonio Vespucci invited Botticelli and Piero di Cosimo to decorate his new house on Via Servi. Among the paintings that adorned him were “The History of the Roman Virginia” (Bergamo, Accademia Carrara) 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 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 best artists, which were in these times in our city, in my presence, sitting at home by the fire, about three o’clock in the morning, I told how on that day, in his bottega in 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 of Botticelli include two “Entombments” (both after 1500; Munich, Alte Pinakothek; Milan, Poldi Pezzoli Museum) and the famous “ Mystical Christmas"(1501, London, National Gallery) is the only signed and dated work by the artist. In them, especially in “Nativity,” they see Botticelli’s appeal to the techniques of medieval Gothic art, primarily in the violation of perspective and scale relationships.

Entombment Mystical Christmas

However late works masters are not pastiche.

The use of forms and techniques alien to the Renaissance artistic method, is explained by the desire to enhance emotional and spiritual expressiveness, to convey which the artist did not have enough specifics real world. One of the most sensitive painters of the Quattrocento, Botticelli sensed the impending crisis of the humanistic culture of the Renaissance extremely early. In the 1520s, its onset will be marked by the emergence 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 de’ Medici”, ca. 1475, Berlin, State Assemblies). In the master’s best portraits, the spirituality and sophistication of the characters’ appearances are combined with a kind of hermeticism, sometimes locking them in arrogant suffering (“Portrait young man", New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art).

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

Botticelli began completing the pages of the Medici Codex after returning from Rome, using partly his first compositions. 92 sheets have survived (85 in the Cabinet of Engravings in Berlin, 7 in the Vatican Library). The drawings were made with silver and lead pins; the artist then outlined their thin gray line with brown or black ink. Four sheets are painted with tempera. On many sheets the inking is not completed or not done at all. It is these illustrations that make it especially clear to feel the beauty of Botticelli’s light, precise, nervous line.

According to Vasari, Sandro Botticelli was “a very pleasant person and often liked to joke with his students and friends.”

“They also say,” he writes further, “that above all he loved those whom he knew were diligent in their art, and that he earned a lot, but everything went to ruin for him, since he managed poorly and was careless. In the end he became decrepit and incapacitated and walked relying on two sticks...” Oh financial situation Botticelli in the 1490s, that is, at a time when, according to Vasari, he had to give up painting and go bankrupt under the influence of Savonarola's sermons, documents from the State Archives of Florence partially allow us to judge. 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 in debt for contributions to the Guild of St. Luke, but an entry dated October 18, 1505 reports that it was completely repaid. The fact that the elderly Botticelli continued to enjoy fame is also evidenced by a letter from Francesco dei Malatesti, agent of the ruler of Mantua, Isabella d’Este, who was looking for craftsmen to decorate her studiolo. 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 part of a commission discussing 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 incapacity 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. Mariano was a tanner by profession and lived with his family in the Santa Maria Novella quarter on Via Nuova, where he rented an apartment in a house owned by Rucellai. He had his own workshop not far from the Santa Trinita in Oltrarno bridge, the business brought in a very modest income, and old Filipepi dreamed of quickly finding a job for his sons and finally having the opportunity to leave the labor-intensive craft.

The first mention of Alessandro, as well as of other Florentine artists, we find in the so-called “portate al Catasto”, that is, the cadastre, where statements of income were made for taxation, which, in accordance with the decree of the Republic of 1427, the head of each Florentine state was obliged to make families.

So in 1458, Mariano Filipepi indicated that he had four sons Giovanni, Antonio, Simone and thirteen-year-old Sandro and added that Sandro “is learning to read, he is a sickly boy.” Filipepi's four brothers brought significant income and social status to the family. The Filipepi owned houses, land, vineyards and shops.

The origin of Sandro’s nickname, “Botticelli,” is still in doubt.

Perhaps the funny street nickname “Botticella”, meaning “Barrel”, was inherited by the slender and dexterous maestro Sandro from the fat man Giovanni, Sandro’s older brother, who looked after him paternally, who became a broker and served as a financial intermediary for the government.

Apparently, Giovanni, wanting to help his aging father, spent a lot of time raising his youngest child. But perhaps the nickname arose in consonance with the jewelry craft of the second brother, Antonio. However, no matter how we interpret the above document, jewelry art played an important role in the development of young Botticelli, for it was in this direction that the same brother Antonio directed him. Alessandro’s father, tired of his “extravagant mind,” gifted and capable of learning, but restless and still not having found the true vocations; perhaps Mariano wanted younger son followed in the footsteps of Antonio, who had worked as a goldsmith since at least 1457, which would mark the beginning of a small but reliable family enterprise.

According to Vasari, at that time there was such a close connection between jewelers and painters that entering the workshop of one meant gaining direct access to the craft of others, and Sandro, who was fairly skilled in drawing, an art necessary for accurate and confident “blackening,” soon became interested in painting and decided to devote himself to it, without forgetting the most valuable lessons of jewelry art, in particular clarity in drawing contour lines and 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 // encyclopedic Dictionary Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
• Go to: 1 2 3 4 Giorgio Vasari. Biographies of the most famous painters, sculptors and architects. - M.: ALPHA-KNIGA, 2008.
• Titus Lucretius Car. About the nature of things. - M.: Fiction, 1983.
• Dolgopolov I.V. Masters and masterpieces. - M.: art, 1986. - T. I.
• Benoit A. History of painting of all times and peoples. - M.: Neva, 2004. - T. 2.

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Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) is one of the most outstanding Florentine artists who worked during the Early Renaissance. The nickname Botticelli, which translated into Russian means barrel, originally belonged to the artist’s older brother Giovanni, who had a large physique. The real name of the painter is Alessandro Filipepi.

Childhood, adolescence and learning skills

Botticelli was born into a tanner's family. The first mention of him was discovered 13 years after the birth of the boy, in 1458. Young Botticelli was an extremely sick child, but made every effort to learn to read. Around the same period, Sandro began working part-time in the workshop of his other brother Antonio.

Botticelli was not destined to engage in the craft, and he realized this after some time as an apprentice. In the early 60s of the 15th century, Sandro began studying with one of greatest artists of that era - Fra Filippo Lippi. The master's style affected the young Botticelli, which later manifested itself in early works artist.

Already in 1467, the young Florentine artist opened a workshop, and among his first works were “Madonna with Children and Two Angels”, “Madonna of the Eucharist” and some other paintings.

The beginning of an independent creative path

Sandro completed his first project already in 1470, and his work was intended for the courtroom. Things went very well for Botticelli, and he soon became a sought-after master, whose fame gradually began to reach the royal palace.

Botticelli created his first masterpiece in 1475. It was a painting called “The Adoration of the Magi.” The customer was a fairly wealthy and influential banker with connections to the then rulers of the city, whom he introduced talented guy. Since then the creator has been close to ruling family Medici and carried out orders specifically for them. The main works of this period can be called the paintings “Spring” and “Birth of Venus”.

Invitation to Rome and peak of glory

Rumors about a young, but very talented artist quickly spread all the way to Rome, where he was called by Pope Sixtus IV in the early 80s. Botticelli was commissioned in collaboration with others famous personalities of his time to carry out the design of a recently erected structure, known to this day - the Sistine Chapel. Sandro took part in the creation of several famous frescoes, which included “The Youth of Moses” and “The Temptation of Christ.”

Already in next year Botticelli returned to his native Florence, probable cause what was the death of his father. Although at the same time he was literally overloaded with orders in his hometown.

In the mid-80s of the 15th century, Botticelli was at the peak of his fame: there were so many orders that the artist simply did not have time to paint all the paintings on his own. Most of the work was carried out by the students of the outstanding creator, and Botticelli himself was engaged only in creating the most complex elements of the compositions. Among the most famous works The artist’s works, which were created by him in the 80s, include “The Annunciation”, “Venus and Mars” and “Magnificat Madonna”.

Later creativity

Serious trials in life befell the creator in the 90s, when he lost his beloved brother, from whom he received such a funny nickname. A little later, the artist began to doubt whether all his activities were justified.

This all coincided with extreme important events which led to the overthrow of the Medici dynasty. Savonarola came to power, fiercely criticizing the wastefulness and corruption of the previous rulers. He was also dissatisfied with the papacy. The power of this ruler was ensured by popular support, Botticelli also went over to his side, but Savonarola’s rule did not last long: after just a few years he was overthrown from the throne and burned alive at the stake.

The sad events deeply wounded the painter. Many at that time said that Botticelli was one of the “converts,” as could be judged by the creator’s latest works. It was this decade that became decisive in the artist’s life.

Last years of life and death

In the last 10-12 years of his life, the fame of the great painter began to gradually fade away and Botticelli could only remember his former popularity. Contemporaries who saw him in the last years of his life wrote about him that he was completely poor, walked on crutches and no one cared about him in the slightest. Last works Botticelli's paintings, which included The Mystical Nativity of 1500, were not popular and no one approached him about commissioning new paintings. Another indicative case was when the then queen, when choosing artists to fulfill her order, in every possible way rejected Botticelli’s proposals.

The once famous painter died in 1510, completely alone and poor. He was buried in a cemetery near one of the Florentine churches. Along with the creator himself, the fame of him completely died, which was revived only in the final decades of the 19th century.

There are several paintings that people associate with the Renaissance. These paintings are world famous and have become real symbols of that time. To paint most of the paintings, artists invited people whose names have not reached us as sitters. They simply looked like the characters the artist needed and that’s all. And therefore, no matter how interested we are in their fate, now practically nothing is known about them.

Sandro Botticelli and his "Venus", Simonetta Vespucci

An example of this is the famous painting by Michelangelo that adorns the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, “The Creation of Adam,” or the creation of the same author, the statue of David. Now it is no longer known who served as the model for the creation of these works.

The same is with the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci “Mona Lisa”. There are now many rumors that the subject of the painting was Lisa Gherardini, but there is more doubt than certainty about this version. And the very mystery of the picture is more likely connected with the personality of Leonard da Vinci rather than with his model.

However, against the backdrop of all this uncertainty, the history of creation famous painting Sandro Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" and the model that served as the prototype for Venus are quite clear. She was Simonetta Vespucci, a universally recognized beauty of that era. Unfortunately, the painting was not painted from life, because by that time Botticelli’s muse was already dead.

Botticelli was born in Florence and all his life he was patronized by the most influential family in the city at that time - the Medici. Simonetta also lived in the same city, her maiden name there was Cattaneo, she was the daughter of a Genoese nobleman. Simonetta, at the age of sixteen, married Marco Vespucci, who fell madly in love with her and was well received by her parents.

All the men in the city went crazy with Simonetta's beauty and kind character, even the brothers Giuliano and Lorenzo de' Medici fell under her charm. Simonetta was proposed as a model for the artist Sandro Botticelli by the Vespucci family itself. For Botticelli this became a fatal meeting, he fell in love with his model at first sight, she became his muse. At the same time, at the knightly tournament held in 1475, Giuliano de' Medici performed with a flag on which Botticelli's hand also depicted a portrait of Simonetta with an inscription on French, meaning “Incomparable.” After his victory in this tournament, Simonetta was declared the “Queen of Beauty”, and her fame as the most beautiful woman in Florence spread throughout Europe.

And as mentioned above, unfortunately Simonetta died soon after, in 1476 at the age of only 23, presumably from tuberculosis. Botticelli was never able to forget her and lived alone all his life; he died in 1510.

Without a doubt, the artist respected Simonetta's marriage and did not show his love in any way, except by painting many paintings with her image. So on famous painting“Venus and Mars” he portrayed characters whose resemblance to Simonetta and the author himself in the role of Mars is not questioned by anyone.

And in 1485 Botticelli wrote famous painting“The Birth of Venus,” which he dedicated to the memory of his beloved, nine years after her death. Botticelli's love was so great that he asked to be buried in the tomb where Simonetta Vespucci was buried, “at the feet” of her burial.

It is known that Botticelli wrote more than 150 works, but most of them were destroyed by representatives of the Catholic Church, who accused the works of paganism and secularism. The Birth of Venus was miraculously saved, rumored to have been protected by Lorenzo de' Medici in memory of his brother and love for Simonetta.