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Biographical Information:
The Italian painter Botticelli was apprenticed to a goldsmith as a boy and then trained by Fra Filippo Lippi. He worked throughout his life mainly in Florence and painted portraits for ruling Florentine families. He only left Florence in 1481-82 to participate in the decoration of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
For one member of the Medici family Botticelli painted "The Birth of Venus" (1480), his most famous picture. The painting's subjects are without any weight and muscular power, they appear floating even as they touch the ground. These characteristics seem contrary to the basic values of early Renaissance art, yet the picture is not medieval: the bodies are genuine nudes, enjoying full freedom of movement as they retain their voluptuousness. "The Birth of Venus" is the first monumental image since Roman times of the nude goddess in a pose derived from classical statues of Venus. The Neo-Platonic philosophers provided the grounds for fusing Christian faith with ancient mythology, rather than merely relating them. Their philosophy saw the celestial Venus and a Virgin Mary interchangeably as the source of divine love. The birth of Venus evokes the hope for rebirth from which the Renaissance takes its name.
He painted portraits of the members of the Medici circle and many religious and mythological pictures for the Uffizi. Around 1500 Botticelli's style was replaced with the classic style of the High Renaissance founded by Leonardo.
Botticelli is one of the supreme masters of line in the history of painting. He brought the art of the linear tradition to its height and also marks the end of a period.
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Artists Works:
Botticelli (Sandro Filipepi, called il) (Florence 1445-1510)
Botticelli (Sandro Filipepi, called il) (Florence 1445-1510)
Botticelli (Sandro Filipepi, called il) (Florence 1445-1510)
Botticelli (Sandro Filipepi, called il) (Florence 1445-1510)
Botticelli (Sandro Filipepi, called il) (Florence 1445-1510)
Botticelli (Sandro Filipepi, called il) (Florence 1445-1510)
Botticelli (Sandro Filipepi, called il) (Florence 1445-1510)
Botticelli (Sandro Filipepi, called il) (Florence 1445-1510)
Botticelli (Sandro Filipepi, called il) (Florence 1445-1510)
Botticelli (Sandro Filipepi, called il) (Florence 1445-1510)
BOTTICELLI, Sandro
Botticelli, Sandro
Botticelli, Sandro
Botticelli, Sandro
Botticelli, Sandro
Botticelli, Sandro: The Birth of Venus
Botticelli, Sandro
BOTTICELLI
...more works by Botticelli, Sandro
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Museum Resources:
Columbia Museum of Art
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
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Commercial Resources:
ABABOR
Ababor L.L.C.
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In the News:
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MATISSE, EXHIBITION PRESENTS ACQUISITIONS OF THE
LAST DECADE AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY
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Related Information:
Iconographic Themes
ReNatssance
ReNATssance Art
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