Sandro Botticelli was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Florence, Italy in 1445. He showed early artistic talent and was apprenticed to Fra Filippo Lippi at age 15. Botticelli gained fame for his paintings commissioned by the powerful Medici family in Florence, including "Primavera" and "The Birth of Venus." His works were characterized by their incorporation of classical mythology and religious symbolism. Botticelli lived most of his life in Florence and worked in the popular Renaissance styles of his time until falling out of favor in the late 15th century.
3. Background:
Real name: Alessandro di Mariano di
Vanni Filipepi
Born March 1, 1445 in Florence,
Italy
Died May 17, 1510 in Florence, Italy
4. Youngest child out of 5
Father was a tanner
He was an apprentice to a goldsmith
as a child
5. Rising of Botticelli’s Career:
He was pulled out of school because
of his recognized talent as an artist.
Botticelli convinced his father to
become a painter, then chosen to
become an apprentice of Fra Filippo
Lippi.
6. At age 15 Sandro opened up his own
workshop, where he taught
apprentices his own work.
In 1481, Pope Sixtus IV invited
Botticelli and other famous artists to
paint frescoes for his Vatican Sistine
Chapel- there he created 3 frescoes.
7. Sandro's Art Styles:
He used stressed lines and detail to
bring characters alive.
He included Neo-Platonism: bringing
together in one painting ideas that
belong to both Christianity and
pagan ideas (mythology).
8. He used tender expressions in his
subjects’ face and in their gestures.
His specialty was the use of a
melancholy- sad characteristic.
His individual paintings were always
oil paintings, of figures and humans.
9. He showed females as the dominant
role instead of men in most art
pieces.
He included highly religious
symbolism in paintings- telling a
story.
10. Famous Works:
The Adoration of the Magi c. 1470-
75
La Primavera c. 1477-78
Venus and Mars c. 1483
Birth of Venus c. 1485-86
The Cestello Annunciation c. 1489
11. Birth of Venus c. 1485-86:
Tempera on canvas.
Zephyrus, God of Winds, and Aura
blow Venus, the Goddess of Love
ashore. The Horae, Goddess of the
Seasons, waits to receive Venus apon
her arrival.
12. It is currently displayed in Uffizi,
Florence.
This is well known because of it's
classical mythological theme that
creates inspiration of the Greek
story.
13.
14. Relationship with the Medici
Family:
As a teenager, Piero il Gottoso
spotted Botticelli and his artwork
and offered his own studio space
inside the Medici Palace.
He then was a protege of the
powerful Medici family.
The Medici's payed huge sums of
money for his work.
15. Painted "Adoration" for the Scala
della Catena in the Palazzo Vecchio.
Lorenzo di Pier Francesco de’Medici
asked Botticelli to paint "Primavera"
in the Villa di Castello.
16. Interesting Facts:
His nickname originated from his
older brother, Giovanni who was
called "Botticello" meaning "The
Little Barrel“.
He was more interested in creating
his paintings in a fantasy-like way.
He died alone with little or no
paintings within the last 10 years of
his life.
17. About 350 years later, his artwork
become recognized by the Pre-
Ralphaelites.
He used his gold flecked paint as an
additional technique to paint.
His travel to Rome to work on the
Sistine Chapel was the first time he
has ever left Florence, Italy.
