Sandro Botticelli Italian painter Sandro Botticelli was one of the foremost talked-about artists during the early Italian Renaissance, well-known for his portrayal of the female figure. Even throughout the changes of his subjects -- from the whimsical pagan mythologies to the reverent Christian ideologies -- Botticelli was a master of his art. His personalized style was captured in each work, all elegantly executed on canvas with the influence of his patrons and the humanist thinkers.

Botticelli was born under the name Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi in Florence (Gietmann, 1907). His early years were slightly obscure, though it has been said that he derived his name (which meant "little barrel") from either Botticelli, a goldsmith, who was also Alessandro's master, or from his older brother ("Sandro," 2009). The artist was apprenticed around 13 or 14 years of age by Filippo Lippi, whose style defined his earlier works. Lippi's style was particularly evident in that of Botticelli's first painting, Fortitude (1470), a work which showed the fusion of Lippi's style and the craftsmanship of fellow artist and engraver Antonio Pollaiuolo (Lightbown, 1989). Fortitude was the first of Botticelli's commissioned works, as part of a series to be created for the Tribunate di Mercatanzia -- a series that Pollaiuolo also had a hand in.

Many patrons employed Botticelli and commissioned him for various works in Florence. It was the Medici family, however, who allowed Botticelli to soar to new heights,...

The Medici, a prominent and powerful banking family during the Florentian Renaissance, were great art patrons. Through the Medici commissions and connections, Botticelli -- like many other Renaissance artists of the time (Michelangelo Buonarroti is a prime example) -- enjoyed a lifestyle full of humanist influences. Most of his surviving early works are reminiscent of this idea of merging Classical Antiquity with Christianity ("Sandro," 2009). He was fascinated by the concept of the goddesses of the Greek and Roman mythologies, and also of the Biblical creation of angels -- many of which became subjects in his paintings. Of course, Botticelli also incorporated Medici family members in portraits and paintings that dealt with human portraiture.
The later years took Botticelli's artwork to a different level. Botticelli and many of his other colleagues (Perugino, Cosimo Rosselli, and Ghirlandaio, to name a few) began to paint more mild-mannered works, focusing largely on mythological images; goddesses and mythical concepts alike (Lightbown, 1989). Before the Bonfire of the Vanities in the late 1490s, Botticelli's works were largely allegorical; the secular commissions he received were Medici trends of the time period. It is even a possibility that two of his most famous works -- the Primavera (c. 1478) and the Birth of Venus (c. 1483) -- were painted for Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de Medici (Harden).

Works

Adoration of…