Sandro Botticelli - Delphi Complete Works of Sandro Botticelli (Illustrated)

Botticelli was born in Florence in a house in the Via Nuova , BorgOgnissanti , to Mariano di Vanni dAmedeo Filipepi . Vasari reports that he was initially trained as a goldsmith by his brother Antonio. Unfortunately, there are scarce confirmed details concerning Botticellis life, but it is known that he became an apprentice when he was approximately fourteen years old, indicating that he had received a more rounded education than other Renaissance artists. By 1462 he was apprenticed to the Florentine master Fra Filippo Lippi and due to this many of Botticellis early works have been first attributed to his master. As well as being influenced by the monumentality of Masaccios paintings, it was from Lippi that Botticelli learned a more intimate and detailed manner of painterly expression.

In 1469 Lippi died suddenly while working on a fresco in Spoletos Cathedral and by the following year Botticelli had his own workshop. From this early date his work was characterised by a conception of the figure as if seen in low relief, drawn with clear contours and minimising strong contrasts of light and shadow, indicating fully modelled forms. The following plate, completed around the time of the setting up of Botticellis first workshop, was produced in the medium of tempera on panel and is now housed in the Palazzo Pitti , Florence. The portrait presents the bold, almost arrogant, portrayal of a male adolescent, who guardedly seems to peer down at us. Apart from his elaborate headpiece, we are given minimal detail as to the subjects social class. There are scant tokens of upper class wealth and no background props or settings to give a hint as to his status. The portrait indicates one of the artists principal features throughout his oeuvre: his interest in the human form alone, while setting and clothing are subordinate. A hallmark of Botticellis style throughout his career would be the personal and sensitive expression he would imbue in his subjects faces. Often his sitters present a melancholic, musing expression, giving an intelligent or even haughty appearance, as in the following example.

Portrait of a Young Man has beenvariously attributed to different painters over the years, though it has now been almost unanimously confirmed as a Botticelli work. It is also notable for being one of the first recorded three-quarter portraits in western European art.