Sandro Botticelli

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University of South Florida

By Martin McGuire

Sandro Botticelli
Alessandro Filipepi, known as Sandro Botticelli was born in 1445 in Florence known as

"Santa Maria Novella." Botticelli's father was Mariano di Vanni Filipepi. Sandro "was frail,

possibly melancholy, and he had a passion for independent intellectual pursuits". (Giulio 11)

Sandro never finished any of his school work or concentrated on it, so his father put him in a

workshop with a goldsmith named Botticello. It is said that Sandro got his name "Botticelli"

from Giovanni, his brother, or from Antonio (his other brother), who knew Sandro had worked

with a goldsmith named Botticello (Giulio 13). During his time with the goldsmith he started to

like art. So, his father placed him with the best painter of the day, Fra Fillippo.

After a time, Sandro convinced his father that he wanted to study painting and was

chosen to be an apprentice to Fra Filippo Lippi. Lippi was well known for using color on church

altar pieces and helped Sandro discover a similar style for his own work. Sandro Botticelli

developed sad expressions in his subject’s faces and in their gestures. He also used decorative

details that were influenced by his training. Botticelli quickly became recognized as a gifted

artist all by himself. By the time he was 15 years old, he was able to open a workshop dedicated

to his own work. (Mandel 7)

"He learned the techniques of Masaccio, the first great Italian Renaissance painter who

balanced frescoes, with rendered models in light and shadow, influenced many artists of the day"

(Giulio 13). Botticelli learned how to develop his own style while at Fra Lippi's, while also

perfecting technique. Fra Lippi left Florence on commission, and Botticelli went to be in the

workshop of Andrea Verrocchio and the Pollaiuolo brothers.

Florence, Italy was at its height in "artistic, economic, and political splendor" when Botticelli

and his work began to thrive (Giulio 14). Botticelli learned about "space, foreshortening, and
perspective, and studied how the human body moved" at his new workshop (Mandel 9). These

ideas that Botticelli was taught were products of the Renaissance and the revival of art. As a

painter, he learned these Renaissance born styles and used them in his art, making himself a

product of his time. All artists work off of each other and borrow styles. Botticelli is very

intriguing because he did not borrow his styles (Mandel 9).

Botticelli became an independent artist and painter in 1470. The Medicis were looking for

someone who could understand classical nature, its continuous cycle between heaven and earth,

mythology, religiosity, biblical and mythical symbols." Botticelli's first commissioned piece,

"fortitude" was deemed successful by the Medicis, and the Medici’s were a very rich and

prominent member of the Florence society. Botticelli is thought to have used them as subjects for

a large number of his works. They traveled in very important circles and introduced Botticelli to

some of the most influential people. In 1472 he joined the Artists' company of St. Luke (Giulio

15).

Botticelli was a very good artist and was allowed to perfect his talent. He was lucky enough

to receive commissions from rich members of the church as well as people who could make him

famous. His art reflected how he was taught and what he was commissioned to do. Botticelli's

got his style from Masaccio's. Masaccio was known as one of the first Italian fresco painters and

his style rubbed off on Botticelli. The style was called the fresco technique originally came from

the Romans and the Greeks. (Blume 173) In 1481, Botticelli was invited to Rome to take part in

the painting of the Sistine Chapel. Sandro joined artists such as Perugino, Ghirlandaio and then

Michelangelo in contributing to the most well known piece of Italian art, the Sistine Chapel.

While there, Botticelli worked on several pieces in the Chapel. In all, Botticelli painted three
large pieces, as well as seven papal portraits in the Sistine Chapel. His use of light and dark

shades, as well as shadows, shows how his style was much like that of Masaccio's. (Blume 177)

Art was primarily done for the church, thus almost all paintings from the Renaissance are artistic

renditions of parts of the Bible.

Botticelli’s later years seemed to be a disturbing time for him. As times changed in

Florence, Botticelli tried to keep up. He often took on difficult commissions that other painters

turned down. His rotating style reflected that Botticelli was struggling as a painter. His paintings

were full of emotion raging from violence to grace and compassion.

Even though Sandro was trying to keep up his status as a painter, he was still recognized with the

honor to be part of the committee that chose the spot where Michelangelo would place his statue

David. (Mandel 25)

Sandro Botticelli died at the age of 65. (Mandel 25) Some say Sandro was poor and

unaccomplished at his death. This could be attributed to the rising popularity of new and

contemporary artists such as Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo Da Vinci. (Mandel 122) Even

though his work is now thought to be among the most masterful of his time, his work lay

forgotten for over 400 years after his death. Looking back at history, he now has the respect he

earned through a lifetime of achievement. Sandro Botticelli contribution to the Italian

Renaissance period was one of great distinction.

Andrew C. Blume. Giovanni de' Bardi and Sandro Botticelli in Santo Spirito. Jahrbuch der
Berliner Museen, Bd. 37 (1995), pp. 169-183.
< http://www.jstor.org/stable/4125946 >

Argan, Giulio. Botticelli: Biographical and Critical Study. New York: Skira, trans. 1957.

Gabriele Mandel. The complete paintings of Botticelli Harmondsworth : Penguin, 1985, c1970.