Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi Born in 1445 in Florence, the son of a tanner Mariano di Vanni Filipepi and his wife Smeralda. Soon his father died and the family was headed by his elder brother, a wealthy merchant, who was given the nickname Botticelli ("Keg"), perhaps because of the rounded figure, perhaps because of the sympathy for wine. It then passed on to all the brothers in the family. After the Dominican monastery, together with his middle brother, Alessandro went to study jewelry making. At that time it was a very enviable profession, but after graduation, the guy became interested in painting.

The Filipepi family was very wealthy and respected in the city. One of the neighbors was Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512) after whom America was named. It was on his advice that Allesanro was sent to a workshop in Prato, 20 km from Florence, and after the death of his teacher, the artist returned to Florence. Exactly Amerigo Vespucci introduced the artist to influential people so that Alessandro could realize his talent as a painter.

The first fame as an artist, Sandro received in 1475, when he wrote for Monastery of Santa Maria Novella painting "The Adoration of the Magi", where he depicted the members the Medici family worshiping the Virgin Mary.

Festivities often took place in Florence. And now, the main hero of the holiday should be Giuliano Medici, younger brother Lorenzo the Magnificent. Botticelli created a standard for Giuliano, which depicted his beloved, a beauty in a white dress in the form Athens Pallas. It was after this festival that the great artist officially established himself in the Medici family circle and the official life of the city.

11 months took part in painting, after which he returned to Florence, painted several paintings on mythological themes, and also finished painting "Spring".

The artist was secretly in love with Simonetta Vespucci, but, the girl suddenly died of consumption. And behind her, 2 years after her funeral, in the Florence Cathedral, during the Pazzi conspiracy, Giuliano was also stabbed to death by a hired killer. It was at this time that the artist wrote his

A special place is given to his masterpieces in the same way, which, together with "Birth of Venus" pleases art lovers Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

In 1493, after the death Lorenzo the Magnificent who died at the age of 44 from gout. The preacher Savonarola, who did not forgive him his sins, declaring himself a servant of Jesus, raised the masses against the Medici, on the central Piazza Signoria burned all valuable works of art, relics seized from rich houses. There were also those who, succumbing to mass psychosis, burned their paintings with nude figures. According to some chroniclers, among them was and. But with the help Pope Alexander IV, Savonarola was accused of heresy and put to death by public execution.

Botticelli was not married and had no children either. According to Giorgio Vasari, he was tormented by old age and illness, and at the end of his days he moved with the help of two sticks. He died at the age of 65 and, according to his will, was buried in Onissanti churches, built by the Vespucci family, in Florence, next to his muse, Simonetta Vespucci, 34 years after her death.

Svetlana Conobella from Italy with love.

About konobella

Svetlana Conobella, writer, publicist and sommelier of the Italian Association (Associazione Italiana Sommelier). Cultivist and implementer of various ideas. What inspires: 1. Everything that goes beyond the conventional wisdom, but respect for tradition is not alien to me. 2. The moment of unity with the object of attention, for example, with the roar of a waterfall, sunrise in the mountains, a glass of unique wine on the shore of a mountain lake, a fire burning in the forest, a starry sky. Who inspires: Those who create their world full of bright colors, emotions and impressions. I live in Italy and love its rules, style, traditions, as well as "know-how", but the Motherland and compatriots will forever be in my heart. www..portal editor

Abstract on the topic

The life and work of Sandro Botticelli

St. Petersburg 2008

The beginning of the creative path. 3

Study in the workshop of Fra Filippo Lippi, the influence of Andrea Verrocchio and the first works.. 4

Florence. The flowering of creativity. 6

Madonnas.. 12

Late paintings. Sermons of Savanarola. Sunset of the artist 13

References.. 17

Sandro Botticelli (1444 or 1445 - 1510) belongs to the most significant artists of the early Renaissance in Florence.

There is no painting more poetic than the painting of Sandro Botticelli. "How beautiful youth is, but it passes" - these are the words of Lorenzo Medici himself, whose favorite artist was Botticelli, words in which the final sad reservation is most important.

The work of this artist stands apart in the art of the Italian Renaissance. Botticelli was a peer of Leonardo da Vinci, who affectionately called him "our Botticelli". But it is difficult to rank him among the typical masters of both the Early and High Renaissance. In the world of art, he was neither a proud conqueror, like the first, nor an all-powerful Master of life, like the second.

The beginning of the creative path

Sandro Botticelli (real name of the artist - Alessandro Filipepi) was born in Florence in 1445. Mariano Filipepi's father was a tanner by profession and lived with his family (of which Alessandro was the youngest son) 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 near the bridge of Santa Trinita in Oltrarno, the business brought a very modest income, and old Filipepi dreamed of quickly attaching his sons and finally being able to leave the laborious craft.

The four brothers Filipepi brought the family significant income and position in society. Sandro studied with his second brother, Antonio, who was a jeweler, and helped him in his business. Jewelry art played an important role in the development of the young Botticelli. To the jeweler ("a certain Botticello," as Vasari writes, a man whose identity has not been established to this day), Alessandro was sent by his father, tired of his "extravagant mind", gifted and capable of learning, but restless and still not finding the true vocations; Perhaps Mariano wanted his youngest son to follow in the footsteps of Antonio, who had been working as a goldsmith since at least 1457, which would mark the beginning of a small but reliable family business.

According to Vasari, there was such a close relationship between jewelers and painters at that time that to enter the workshop of one meant to get direct access to the craft of others, and Sandro, who was pretty adept at drawing - the art necessary for accurate and confident "blackening", soon became interested in painting. and decided to devote himself to it, while not forgetting the most valuable lessons of jewelry art, in particular the clarity in the outline of contour lines and the 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.

Study in the workshop of Fra Filippo Lippi, the influence of Andrea Verrocchio and the first works

Around 1464, Sandro entered the workshop of the Carmelite monk Fra Filippo Lippi from the monastery of Carmine, the most excellent painter of that time. Fra Filippo Lippi created cheerful images, marked by naturalness, while not retreating from the main conquests of the Renaissance.

Devoted entirely to painting, he became a follower of his teacher and imitated him so that Fra Filippo fell in love with him and by his training soon raised him to a degree that no one could have imagined.

Even the early works of Sandro are distinguished by a special, almost elusive atmosphere of spirituality, a kind of poetic veil of images.

His first work could have been frescoes made by his teacher with his students in the cathedral in Prato. But already in 1469, Botticelli was an independent artist, for in the cadastre of the same year, Marano, his father, stated that "Sandro works at home."

After the death of Fra Filippo in 1467, Botticelli, still wanting to quench his thirst for knowledge, began to look for another source among the highest artistic achievements of the era. For a time he attended the studio of Andrea Verrocchio, a versatile craftsman, sculptor, painter and jeweler who led a team of multi-talented emerging artists; here at that time the atmosphere of "advanced" creative search reigned, it is no coincidence that the young Leonardo studied with Verrocchio.

Andrea Verrocchio approached painting analytically, was fond of anatomically accurate rendering of the human figure in strong movement; in Florence he ran a famous workshop.

Sandro Botticelli mastered well the main achievements of early Renaissance painting. And contemporaries saw in his art the most valued qualities at that time: "a courageous manner of writing, strict adherence to rules and perfection of proportions." This was facilitated by his stay after studying with Philippe Lippi in the workshop of Verrocchio in 1467-1468. Initiation to the skill of the painter and sculptor was carried out here on a scientific basis, great importance was attached to the experiment.

Sandro Botticelli learned from these two great masters and formed himself as an independent artist, inheriting some qualities from his teachers, but at the same time becoming a completely original and strong master. In his early works, he somewhat resembles Fra Philippe Lippi with an abundance of portraits and a wealth of details.

Such, for example, is his painting "The Adoration of the Magi" (c. 1475, London, National Gallery), in which members of the Medici family and their entourage are represented in the form of Magi. However, already in this picture, attention is drawn to the extraordinary expressiveness and spirituality of the images, which far exceed anything that was created by his teacher. The desire for realism is obvious in the picture: it is reflected not only in the abundance of portraits of Botticelli's contemporaries (for all their magnificence, they participate in the depicted scene very relatively, only as side motives), but also in the fact that the composition is built more in depth than on plane (in the arrangement of the figures one feels artificiality, especially in the scene on the right). The execution of each image is a miracle of grace and nobility, but everything as a whole is too limited and compressed in space; there is no physical movement, and with it a spiritual impulse.

Florence. The heyday of creativity

In the last third of the 15th century, the process of gradual transformation of the republic into tyranny is completed in Florence.

If Cosimo Medici still sought to disguise his power with the appearance of republican freedoms, then under his grandson Lorenzo (1449-1492), who ruled in Florence from 1469, the monarchist tendencies of the Medici house are already very clear.

Lorenzo Medici, nicknamed "The Magnificent", was a bright and very typical figure for his time. In the 15th century, many small Italian states were headed by tyrants, often terrifying with their unbridled cruelty and, at the same time, striving to play the role of enlightened sovereigns, patrons and connoisseurs of the arts and sciences. Lorenzo was one of these "enlightened tyrants". A brilliantly educated person, an outstanding politician and diplomat, poet, connoisseur and lover of literature and art, he managed to attract many major poets, humanists, artists and scientists. Constant festivities, carnivals, tournaments, competitions of poets created the appearance of a brilliant government, behind the magnificent facade of which, however, not all was well. In Florence and its possessions, there were more than once protests against tyranny, which were supported by numerous enemies of the Medici outside Florence, led by Pope Sixtus IV. All these conspiracies and uprisings were crushed by Lorenzo with extreme cruelty, especially the so-called Pazzi conspiracy of 1478, during which Lorenzo's younger brother Giuliano Medici was killed. But, although Lorenzo managed to maintain power, the situation in the city remained tense. It was tense throughout the country. The approach of the crisis was felt everywhere. The fall of Constantinople (1453) and the collapse of Levantine trade, the loss of Italy's leading positions and the gradual return to feudal systems, political fragmentation and ever-increasing contention between individual cities and states weakened Italy and made it an attractive and easy prey for the strengthened neighboring states. All this gave rise to that mood of anxiety and uncertainty about the future, which left its mark on the entire culture of the late 15th century, including the culture of Florence. Florence lived in these years some kind of hectic life, but even in the most violent fun, anxiety and forebodings of impending disasters seemed to lurk. Lorenzo Medici himself perfectly expressed the general mood in his "Carnival Song", each stanza of which ends with the words: "Who wants to be cheerful - have fun, no one knows what will happen tomorrow!"

All the complexity and inconsistency of the life of this time found expression in the works of Sandro Botticelli. Pictures of this time leave a dual impression. Colorful and elegant, created in order to please the eye, at the same time, they are always full of some kind of internal painful burning. And his Madonnas, and Venus, and Spring are covered with sadness, their eyes betray hidden pain. It is on this inner state and mood that Botticelli focuses his attention. He does not show much interest in the development of the plot, in the depiction of everyday details, so dear to the heart of his teacher. He is also far from conveying dramatic collisions or heroic deeds. Even in such a story as the story of the biblical heroine Judith, for the sake of saving her native city, she penetrated into the camp of the enemy and beheaded the leader of the enemy troops, King Holofernes, Botticelli avoids depicting the very scene of the murder, as Donatello once did, for example, in the sculptural group "Judith and Holofernes" . In his early painting The Death of Holofernes (1470, Florence, Uffizi), Botticelli depicts the moment when everything had already happened and Judith left the tent, taking with her the severed head of the king. In the cold dusk of dawn, Holofernes's associates freeze in a daze in front of the headless corpse of their leader.

There is no painting more poetic than the painting of Sandro Botticelli (Botticelli, Sandro). The artist was recognized for the subtlety and expressiveness of his style. The brightly individual style of the artist is characterized by the musicality of light, quivering lines, the transparency of cold, refined colors, the animation of the landscape, and the whimsical play of linear rhythms. He always sought to infuse the soul into new pictorial forms.

Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi was born on March 1, 1445 to Mariano and Smeralda Filipepi. Like many people in the area, his father was a tanner. 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 income statements were made for taxation, which, in accordance with the decree of the Republic of 1427, the head of each Florentine was obliged to do. families. In 1458, Mariano Filipepi indicated that he had four sons: Giovanni, Antonio, Simone and thirteen-year-old Sandro, and added that Sandro was "learning to read, he is a sickly boy." Alessandro received his name-nickname Botticelli ("barrel") from his older brother. The father wanted the youngest son to follow in the footsteps of Antonio, who had been working as a goldsmith since at least 1457, which would mark the beginning of a small but reliable family business.

According to Vasari, there was such a close relationship between jewelers and painters at that time that to enter the workshop of one meant to get direct access to the craft of others, and Sandro, who was pretty adept at drawing - the art necessary for accurate and confident "blackening", soon became interested in painting. and decided to dedicate himself to it, while not forgetting the most valuable lessons of jewelry art, in particular, clarity in outline drawing. Around 1464, Sandro entered the workshop of Fra Filippo Lippi from the monastery of Carmine, the most excellent painter of that time, which he left in 1467 at the age of twenty-two.

Early period of creativity

Filippo Lippi's style had a huge influence on Botticelli, manifested mainly in certain types of faces, ornamental details and coloring. In his works of the late 1460s, the fragile, planar linearity and grace, adopted from Filippo Lippi, are replaced by a more powerful interpretation of figures and a new understanding of the plasticity of volumes. Around the same time, Botticelli began to use energetic ocher shadows to convey flesh color - a technique that became a characteristic feature of his style. These changes are shown in full force in the earliest documented painting for the Merchant Court, Allegory of Power. (c.1470, Florence, Uffizi Gallery) and in a less pronounced form in two early Madonnas (Naples, Capodimonte Gallery; Boston, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum). Two famous paired compositions The Story of Judith (Florence, Uffizi), also among the early works of the master (c. 1470), illustrate another important aspect of Botticelli's painting: a lively and capacious narrative, in which expression and action are combined, revealing the dramatic essence with complete clarity plot. They also reveal an already begun change in color, which becomes brighter and more saturated, in contrast to the pale palette of Filippo Lippi, which prevails in Botticelli's earliest painting, the Adoration of the Magi (London, National Gallery).

Probably already in 1469, Botticelli can be considered an independent artist, since in the cadastre of the same year Mariano stated that his son was working at home. By the time of his father's death, the Filipepis owned considerable property. He died in October 1469, and the very next year Sandro opened his own workshop.

In 1472, Sandro entered the Guild of St. Luke. Botticelli receives orders mainly in Florence.

Rise of the Master

In 1469, power in Florence passed to the grandson of Cosimo the Old - Lorenzo Medici, nicknamed the Magnificent. His court becomes the center of Florentine culture. Lorenzo, a friend of artists and poets, a refined poet and thinker himself, becomes Botticelli's patron and customer.

Among the works of Botticelli, only a few have reliable dates; many of his paintings have been dated based on stylistic analysis. Some of the most famous works date back to the 1470s: the painting of St. Sebastian (1473), the earliest depiction of a naked body in the work of the master; Adoration of the Magi (c.1475, Uffizi). Two portraits - a young man (Florence, Pitti Gallery) and a Florentine lady (London, Victoria and Albert Museum) - date from the early 1470s. Somewhat later, perhaps in 1476, a portrait of Giuliano de' Medici, Lorenzo's brother, was made (Washington, National Gallery). The works of this decade demonstrate the gradual growth of Botticelli's artistic skill. He used the techniques and principles set forth in Leon Battista Alberti's first outstanding theoretical treatise on Renaissance painting (On Painting, 1435-1436) and experimented with perspective. By the end of the 1470s, stylistic fluctuations and direct borrowing from other artists, inherent in his early works, disappeared in the works of Botticelli. By this time, he already confidently mastered a completely individual style: the figures of the characters acquire a strong structure, and their contours surprisingly combine clarity and elegance with energy; dramatic expressiveness is achieved by combining active action and deep inner experience. All these qualities are present in the fresco of St. Augustine (Florence, Ognisanti Church), written in 1480 as a paired composition to the fresco of Ghirlandaio St. Jerome. Items around St. Augustine, - a music stand, books, scientific instruments - demonstrate Botticelli's skill in the still life genre: they are depicted with accuracy and clarity, revealing the artist's ability to grasp the essence of form, but at the same time they are not striking and do not distract from the main thing. Perhaps this interest in still life is associated with the influence of Netherlandish painting, which was admired by the Florentines of the 15th century. Of course, Dutch art influenced Botticelli's interpretation of the landscape. Leonardo da Vinci wrote that "our Botticelli" showed little interest in the landscape: "... he says that this is an empty exercise, because it is enough just to throw a sponge soaked in colors on the wall, and it will leave a spot in which one can discern a beautiful landscape" . Botticelli generally contented himself with using conventional motifs for the backgrounds of his paintings, varying them by incorporating Netherlandish painting motifs such as Gothic churches, castles and walls to achieve a romantic-painterly effect.

The artist writes a lot on orders from Lorenzo de' Medici and his relatives. In 1475, on the occasion of the tournament, he paints a banner for Giuliano Medici. And once he even captured his customers in the form of the Magi in the painting "The Adoration of the Magi" (1475-1478). Here you can also find the artist's first self-portrait. The most fruitful period in the work of Botticelli begins. Judging by the number of his students and assistants registered in the cadastre, in 1480 Botticelli's workshop was widely recognized.

In 1481, Botticelli was invited by Pope Sixtus IV to Rome, along with Cosimo Rosselli and Ghirlandaio, to paint frescoes on the side walls of the newly rebuilt Sistine Chapel. He completed three of these frescoes: Scenes from the life of Moses, Healing of a leper and the temptation of Christ, and Punishment of Korah, Dathan and Abiron. In all three frescoes, the problem of presenting a complex theological program in clear, light and lively dramatic scenes is masterfully solved; while making full use of compositional effects.

After returning to Florence, perhaps in late 1481 or early 1482, Botticelli painted his famous paintings on mythological themes: Spring, Pallas and the Centaur, the Birth of Venus (all in the Uffizi) and Venus and Mars (London, National Gallery), belonging to the number the most famous works of the Renaissance and representing the true masterpieces of Western European art. The characters and plots of these paintings are inspired by the works of ancient poets, primarily Lucretius and Ovid, as well as mythology. They feel the influence of ancient art, a good knowledge of classical sculpture or sketches from it, which were widespread in the Renaissance. So, the graces from Spring go back to the classical group of three graces, and the pose of Venus from the Birth of Venus - to the Venus Pudica type (Venus bashful).

Some scholars see these paintings as a visual embodiment of the main ideas of the Florentine Neoplatonists, especially Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499). However, adherents of this hypothesis ignore the sensual principle in the three paintings depicting Venus and the glorification of purity and purity, which is undoubtedly the theme of Pallas and the Centaur. The most plausible hypothesis is that all four paintings were painted on the occasion of the wedding. They are the most remarkable surviving works of this genre of painting, which celebrates marriage and the virtues associated with the birth of love in the soul of a pure and beautiful bride. The same ideas are the main ones in four compositions illustrating the story of Boccaccio Nastagio degli Onesti (located in different collections), and two frescoes (Louvre), painted around 1486 on the occasion of the marriage of the son of one of the closest associates of the Medici.

Crisis of the Soul Crisis of Creativity

In the 1490s, Florence experienced political and social upheavals - the expulsion of the Medici, the short-term rule of Savonarola with his accusatory religious and mystical sermons directed against papal prestige and the wealthy Florentine patriciate.

Torn apart by contradictions, the soul of Botticelli, who felt the beauty of the world discovered by the Renaissance, but was afraid of her sinfulness, could not stand it. Mystical notes begin to sound in his art, nervousness and drama appear. In the Annunciation of Cestello (1484-1490, Uffizi), the first signs of mannerisms already appear, which gradually increased in Botticelli's later works, leading him away from the fullness and richness of nature of the mature period of creativity to a style in which the artist admires the peculiarities of his own manner. The proportions of the figures are violated to enhance psychological expressiveness. This style, in one form or another, is characteristic of the works of Botticelli of the 1490s and early 1500s, even for the allegorical painting Slander (Uffizi), in which the master exalts his own work, associating it with the creation of Apelles, the greatest of ancient Greek painters.

In the painting "The Wedding of the Mother of God" (1490), a severe, intense obsession is visible in the faces of the angels, and in the swiftness of their postures and gestures - almost Bacchic self-forgetfulness.

After the death of the patron master Lorenzo Medici (1492) and the execution of Savonarola (1498), his character finally changed. The artist refused not only the interpretation of humanistic themes, but also the plastic language characteristic of him earlier. His latest paintings are distinguished by asceticism and conciseness of color scheme. His works are imbued with pessimism and hopelessness. One of the famous paintings of this time, "Abandoned" (1495-1500), depicts a weeping woman sitting on the steps against a stone wall with tightly closed gates.

“The growing religious exaltation reaches tragic heights in his two monumental Lamentations of Christ,” writes N.A. Belousova, “where the images of Christ’s loved ones, surrounding his lifeless body, are full of heartbreaking sorrow. Instead of fragile incorporeality - clear, generalized volumes, instead of exquisite combinations of faded shades - powerful colorful harmonies, where, in contrast to dark harsh tones, bright spots of cinnabar and carmine-red color sound especially pathetic. "

In 1495, the artist completed the last of the works for the Medici, writing in a villa in Trebbio several works for a side branch of this family.

In 1498, the Botticelli family, as the cadastral entry shows, owned considerable property: they had a house in the Santa Maria Novella quarter and, in addition, received income from the Belsguardo villa, located outside the city, outside the gates of San Frediano.

After 1500, the artist rarely picked up a brush. His only signature work of the early sixteenth century is The Mystical Nativity (1500, London, National Gallery). The attention of the master is now focused on the image of a wonderful vision, while the space performs an auxiliary function. This new trend in the relationship of figures and space is also characteristic of the illustrations for the Divine Comedy by Dante, made with a pen in a magnificent manuscript.

In 1502, the artist received an invitation to go to the service of Isabella d'Este, Duchess of Mantua. However, for unknown reasons, this trip did not take place.

Although he was already an elderly man and left painting, his opinion continued to be reckoned with. In 1504, together with Giuliano da Sangallo, Cosimo Rosselli, Leonardo da Vinci and Filippino Lippi, Botticelli participated in the commission that was supposed to choose a place for the installation of David, just sculpted by the young Michelangelo. Filippino Lippi's decision was considered the most successful, and the marble giant was placed on the plinth in front of the Palazzo della Signoria. In the memoirs of contemporaries, Botticelli appears as a cheerful and kind person. He kept the doors of his house open and willingly received his friends there. The artist did not hide the secrets of his skill from anyone, and he had no end to his students. Even his teacher Lippi brought his son Filippino to him.

Analysis of some works

"Judith", ca 1470

It is a work that is clearly related to Lipley's late work. It's a kind of reflection on what a feeling is. The heroine is depicted in the trembling light of dawn after accomplishing her feat. The breeze pulls at her dress, the excitement of the folds hides the movement of the body, it is not clear how she maintains her balance and maintains an even posture. The artist conveys the sadness that gripped the girl, that feeling of emptiness that replaced active action. Before us is not some definite feeling, but a state of mind, a striving for something obscure, either in anticipation of the future, or out of regret for what has been done, a consciousness of the futility, futility of history and the melancholy dissolution of feeling in nature, which has no history, where everything happens without the help of the will.

"Saint Sebastian" 1473

The figure of the saint is devoid of stability, the artist lightens and lengthens its proportion, so that the beautiful form of the saint's body can be compared only with the blueness of the empty sky, which seems even more inaccessible due to the remoteness of the landscape. The clear form of the body is not filled with light, the light surrounds the matter, as if dissolving it, and the line makes certain shadows and light against the sky. The artist does not exalt the hero, but only mourns the desecrated or defeated beauty, which the world does not understand, because its source is beyond worldly notions, beyond natural space, as well as historical time.

"Spring" c.1478

Its symbolic meaning is varied and complex, its idea can be understood in different ways. Its conceptual meaning is fully accessible only to specialist philosophers, moreover, to initiates, but it is clear to everyone who is able to feel the beauty of a grove and a flowering meadow, the rhythm of figures, the attractiveness of bodies and faces, the smoothness of lines, the thinnest. chromatic combinations. If the meaning of conventional signs is no longer reduced to fixing and explaining reality, but is used to overcome and encrypt it, then what is the point of all the wealth of positive knowledge that was accumulated by Florentine painting in the first half of the century and which led to grandiose theoretical constructions of Pierrot? And therefore, perspective as a way of depicting space loses its meaning, light as a physical reality does not make sense, it is not worthwhile to deal with the transfer of density and volume as specific manifestations of materiality and space. The alternation of parallel trunks or the pattern of leaves in the background of "Spring" have nothing to do with perspective, but it is precisely in comparison with this background, devoid of depth, that the smooth development of the linear rhythms of the figures, contrasting with the parallelism of the trunks, acquires special significance, just like subtle color transitions get a special sound in combination with dark tree trunks that stand out sharply against the sky foyer.

Frescoes in the Sistine Chapel 1481- 1482

Botticelli's frescoes are written on biblical and gospel subjects, but are not interpreted in a "historical" plan. For example, scenes from the life of Moses are meant to be a type of the life of Christ. The themes of other paintings also have a figurative meaning: "The Cleansing of a Leper" and "The Temptation of Christ" contain a hint of Christ's fidelity to the law of Moses and, consequently, the continuity of the Old and New Testaments. "Punishment of Korah, Dathan and Aviron" also alludes to the continuity of God's law (which is symbolically expressed by the arch of Constantine in the background) and the inevitability of punishment for those who transgress it, which is unequivocally linked in the mind of the viewer with heretical teachings. In some things one can see a hint of contemporary faces and circumstances of the artist. But by linking together historically different events, Botticelli destroys the spatio-temporal unity and even the meaning of the narrative itself. Separate episodes, despite the time and space separating them, are soldered to each other by stormy upsurges of linear rhythm that occur after long pauses, and this rhythm, which has lost its melodic, smooth character, full of sudden outbursts and dissonances, is now entrusted with the role of a carrier of drama that cannot be more expressed through the actions or gestures of individual characters.

"Birth of Venus" c.1485

This is by no means a pagan chanting of female beauty: among the meanings inherent in it, the Christian idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe birth of the soul from water during baptism appears. The beauty that the artist seeks to glorify is, in any case, spiritual beauty, not physical beauty: the naked body of the goddess means naturalness and purity, the uselessness of jewelry. Nature is represented by its elements (air, water, earth). The sea, agitated by the breeze blown by Aeolus and Boreas, appears as a bluish-green surface, on which the waves are depicted in identical schematic signs. The shell is also symbolic. Against the background of a wide sea horizon, three rhythmic episodes develop with varying intensity - winds, Venus emerging from a shell, a maid accepting her with a veil decorated with flowers (a hint of the green cover of nature). Three times the rhythm is born, reaches its maximum tension and goes out.

"Annunciation"1489-1490

the artist brings into the scene, usually so idyllic, unusual confusion, the Angel bursts into the room and swiftly falls to his knees, and behind him, like jets of air cut through during flight, his clothes, transparent as glass, barely visible, rise up. His right hand with a large hand and long nervous fingers is stretched out to Mary, and Mary, as if blind, as if in oblivion, stretches out her hand towards him. It seems as if internal currents, invisible but clearly tangible, flow from his hand to Mary's hand and make her whole body tremble and bend.

"Mystical Christmas" 1500 g

Perhaps the most ascetic, but at the same time the most pointed and polemical of all the works of his last period. And it accompanies it with an apocalyptic inscription, which predicts great troubles for the coming age. He depicts an unthinkable space in which the figures in the foreground are smaller than the more distant ones, because the "primitives" did so, the lines do not converge at one point, but zigzag across the landscape, as if in a Gothic miniature inhabited by angels.

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Sandro Botticelli, whose works are an invaluable heritage that embodies the reflections of bygone times, is an outstanding painter of the Renaissance, a striking figure against the background of the painters of the period of Lorenzo the Magnificent.

Biography of the Italian artist

Botticelli's real name is Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi. Botticelli's nickname was inherited from his older brother and means "barrel" in translation.

The Florentine Sandro Botticelli, whose works are admired by the whole world, was born in 1445 in the family of a leather tanner and was the youngest son. Father Mariano Filipepi and his wife Zmeralda rented an apartment, their own workshop gave a very modest income, so the tanner dreamed of successfully attaching his sons and leaving his craft. In 1458, Sandro worked as an apprentice in a jewelry workshop owned by his brother. Having become proficient in this subtle art, which requires confidence and accuracy in drawing, he soon became interested in painting and two years later he enrolled as an apprentice to the Florentine painter Fra Filippo Lippi, from whom he studied until the age of 22.

The first lessons of Botticelli

Valuable jewelry lessons were useful to the artist in the future: the famous works of Sandro Botticelli are characterized by the clarity of contour lines and the professional use of gold, which was used in its pure form to depict the background or as an admixture to paints. The time spent in the mentor's workshop was productive and fun for the young man. The student became a follower of his teacher and imitated him in everything. The latter, reciprocating such sincere devotion and the desire to absorb the knowledge gained as much as possible, tried to give Botticelli everything that was in his power. The style of the first teacher had a huge impact on the style of writing Botticelli's paintings, especially on the ornamental details, color and type of faces.

Further, Sandro, thirsting for new knowledge, became a visitor to the workshop of Andrea Verrocchio, an Italian sculptor and painter, a versatile person who led a team of young talented artists. The atmosphere of creative search, which dominated among people of art, is clearly expressed in the first works of the Florentine master: “Madonna and Child with Two Angels” and “Madonna in the Rosary”. It is in them that the experience gained by Botticelli from his teachers is clearly traced. In 1467, the Florentine decided to open his own workshop.

The main works of Sandro Botticelli: "Allegory of Strength"

The artist completed his first order in 1470 for the hall of the Commercial Court, a city institution that considered cases of economic offenses. It was the painting "Allegory of Strength", depicting a figure seated on a deep throne. Being the embodiment of conviction and moral strength, Botticelli's "Strength" expresses instability and internal fragility with its pose.

The year 1472 for Sandro was marked by enrollment in the association of artists - the Guild of St. Luke, which gave the painter the opportunity to maintain a workshop on a legal basis, surrounding himself with assistants. One of Botticelli's students was the son of a former teacher, Filippino Lippi.

Fame of the Florentine painter

By 1475, Sandro Botticelli, whose works are mostly written on biblical and mythological themes, became a widely known and sought-after master. The artist painted paintings for churches, created frescoes, gradually replacing the grace and planar linearity adopted from Filippo with a new understanding of volumes and a more powerful interpretation of figures. Unlike his first teacher, whose works are characterized by a pale palette, the painter enriched his canvases with bright colors, which gradually acquired more and more saturation. Also, Sandro Botticelli, whose paintings embody the spirit of the Renaissance, began to use ocher shadows to convey flesh color - a technique that became a feature of his style of writing canvases.

Famous works of Sandro Botticelli

Photos of the Italian artist's paintings convey the enormous talent of the Florentine, who left a bright mark on the creative heritage of his country. Many of Sandro Botticelli's works date back to the 1470s, although not all of them are accurately dated. The time of writing most of them was determined by conducting a stylistic analysis.

This time period includes such canvases as "The Adoration of the Magi" (1475), "St. Sebastian" (1473), "Portrait of a Florentine Lady" (1470) and "Portrait of a Young Man" (1470). Approximately in 1476, a portrait of Lorenzo the Magnificent's brother, Giuliano Medici, who was killed during the conspiracy of 1478, was painted. Botticelli was in close contact with the Medici family - the undisputed rulers of Florence. It was for Giuliano that the artist painted the banner for the 1475 tournament.

Personality of Botticelli's style

In the works of the period of the 1470s, one can trace the gradual growth of the artistic skill of the Florentine author: borrowed styles from other artists and stylistic fluctuations disappeared in his canvases. Botticelli developed his own style of writing: the characters in his paintings are characterized by a strong structure, the contours are characterized by vigor, elegance and clarity, and dramatic imagery is achieved by a combination of a strong inner mood and active action.

These components are present in the fresco "St. Augustine" (1480). The artist was strong in still life painting. The objects present in his paintings are depicted accurately and clearly, expressing the author's ability to correctly capture the essence of the form. However, they do not come to the fore, focusing the viewer's attention on key characters. As a background, Sandro Botticelli, whose paintings are presented in the world's most famous galleries, used Gothic churches, castle walls, thus achieving a picturesque romantic effect.

Frescoes for the Sistine Chapel

Sandro Botticelli, whose works lead the audience to complete delight, mainly received his orders in Florence. One of the most famous paintings - "Saint Sebastian", was written for the oldest church in the city, Santa Maria Maggiore. The canvas, solemnly placed on one of the church columns in January 1474, firmly established itself in the artistic panorama of Florence. In 1481, Sandro Botticelli, along with Domenico Ghirlandaio and Cosimo Rosselli, received an invitation from Pope Sixtus IV to Rome to paint frescoes on the side walls of the newly erected Sistine Chapel.

In the completed works Healing a Leper and Tempting Christ, Punishment of Korah and Scenes from the Life of Moses, the author masterfully solved the problem of interpreting a complex theological program: making full use of compositional effects, he interpreted it with lively, clear, light dramatic scenes.

Mythological trend in the paintings of Botticelli

Returning to Florence in 1482, Sandro buried his father. After a short break, he again took up painting. This time was the peak of Botticelli's fame: clients flocked to his workshop, so some of the orders were performed by the master's students, while he himself took on complex and prestigious orders.

At this time, the world saw the famous works of Sandro Botticelli: "Pallas and the Centaur", "Spring", "Venus and Mars", "The Birth of Venus", which are among the most valuable works of the Renaissance and are true masterpieces of Western European art. The plots of these canvases, in which the influence of ancient art and excellent knowledge of classical sculpture are clearly felt, are inspired by mythology.

"Birth of Venus"

The "Birth of Venus" symbolizes the myth of the union of matter and the life-giving spirit that breathes life into it. The perfection of the human race is embodied in the figure of Ora, holding out the cloak of modesty to the goddess - a historical moment that the Italian master Sandro Botticelli captured very clearly and soulfully.

The paintings, the list of which is quite extensive, at the later stages began to be characterized by signs of some mannerism, so to speak, self-admiration of their own skill. To increase psychological expressiveness, it goes to the violation of the proportions of the figures. It is known that Botticelli often ordered sketches for prints and fabrics, but only a small part of these drawings has survived to our time.

Famous paintings of the Italian

The canvas "The Wedding of the Mother of God" (1490) is saturated with exciting anxiety, anxiety of feelings and bright hopes. The angels depicted in the picture convey anxiety, in a gesture of St. Jerome shows confidence and dignity. In the work, one feels a certain departure from the perfection of proportions, an increase in tension, an increase in the sharpness of color - a certain change in the style inherent in Sandro Botticelli.

The works, photos of the canvases express the desire for deep drama, which is clearly seen in the painting “Abandoned”, the plot of which is taken from the Bible: Tamar, who was expelled by Ammon. The artistic personification of this historical fact carries a universal meaning: understanding of the weakness of a woman, sympathy for loneliness and the despair she restrains, a blank barrier in the form of a thick wall and locked gates.

The last years of the life of the Italian artist

In 1493, Botticelli buried his beloved brother Giovanni, while Florence said goodbye to Lorenzo the Magnificent. In the city - the former cradle of humanistic thought - Savonarody's revolutionary speeches were heard. came in the life of Sandro Botticelli. Pictures, the description of which is characterized by deep sadness and longing, express a complete decline in the mood of the author. Savonarody's sermons about the coming end of the world led the people in February 1497 to build a huge bonfire in the central square, in which they burned valuable works of art. Some artists also succumbed to mass psychosis, among whom was Botticelli. In flames, he burned several of his sketches, although there is no exact evidence of this act. Soon Savonarola was accused of heresy and publicly executed.

Towards the end of his life, Botticelli was very lonely, became infirm and very ill. According to contemporaries, the artist was able to move only with the help of crutches. His former glory remained in the past, orders ceased to arrive: times changed, a new era of art took its place. The artist has never been married and had no children. Sandro Botticelli died all alone in 1510.