Isabella Alston - Botticelli

BOTTICELLI

T&J

Published by TAJ Books International LLC 2014
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ISBN 978-1-84406-332-1
Paperback 978-1-62732-020-7

Printed in China

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BOTTICELLI

T&J

I S A B E L L A A L S T O N

c. 14451510

Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, better known as simply Sandro Botticelli, was born in Florence, Italy, probably in or around 1445. His father, Mariano di Vanni dAmadeo Filipepi, was 50 years old at the time of his sons birth and his mother, Smerelda, was 40 years old, unusually old for parents of that era. Historians are unsure as to how Alessandro came to be known as Botticelli, but two theories have been suggested. The first theory is that his older brother, Giovanni, was quite fat and therefore nicknamed Botticella, which means a keg or barrel. Botticelli means mini keg, an appropriate nickname for the younger brother. The second theory is that Alessandro was briefly an apprentice to another of his brothers who was a goldsmith. Botticellis primary job was to hit the gold repeatedly with a hammer to shape it, referred to in Italian as battigello, and this possibly could have morphed into Botticelli over time.

In 1462, around the age of 17, Botticelli was apprenticed to the artist, Fra Filippo Lippi, considered to be the best Florentine painter of the period. It is assumed that Botticellis late apprenticeshipmost boys would have begun apprenticing around the age of 12was due to his receiving an education.

Botticellis main influence prior to his apprenticeship in Lippis workshop was the artist Masaccio, considered to be the first great painter of the quattrocento (15th century) period of the Renaissance, as well as one of Lippis contemporaries. Botticelli was influenced primarily by Masaccios lifelike figures, three-dimensionality, and naturalistic elements characterized by his use of perspective and chiaroscuro. Botticelli combined his affinity for Masaccio with the techniques he learned from Lippi, but by adding greater detailand therefore greater realismto the figures, he created his own style that captured the essence of a supreme intimacy. After Botticellis apprenticeship ended with Lippi in 1467, it is believed that he moved on to study under Andrea Verrocchio, whom Leonardo Da Vinci had also studied under at one point.

Botticelli received an early commission from the Florentine courts that greatly helped his career. Another artist, Piero del Pollaiuolo, had been commissioned for seven paintings, each to represent one of the seven virtues: Faith, Hope, Charity, Temperance, Prudence, Justice, and Fortitude. But del Pollaiuolo fell behind schedule and was unable to complete the seventh virtue, so the courts hired Botticelli. The series of paintings covered the wall behind where the magistrates presided. The very public location of the works gave), stood out from the rest, paying careful attention to include as much realistic detail as possible and refined use of color. His hard work paid off, and he was soon one of the leading painters of Florence, finding patronage among the citys wealthiest families.

Self-Portrait of Sandro Botticelli
Detail of Adoration of the Magi (), c. 1475,
The Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

With success, Botticelli was officially accepted into the artists guild, meaning that he could establish his own workshop with apprentices who could help him with his projects. Unlike todays artists, artists of the Renaissance were viewed more as producers of art rather than creators of art. An artists patron hired him to produce the patrons ideas. The most commonly commissioned paintings were commemorations of the patrons family, church, or city. Art served the purpose of immortalizing a person or concept as no other means of visual recordkeeping was available. Not until the invention of photography did the definition of art and artist truly begin to change, assuming the meanings of self-expression and creator, respectively. In the age of Botticelli, the workshop was an absolutely essential element for an artist in order to make a living. In addition to painting, many workshops offered sculpting, goldsmithing, architecture, and engineering.

Botticelli received a commission from Gaspare di Zanobi del Lama, a Florentine banker and relative of the infamous Medici family. He requested that Adoration of the Magi ()an extremely popular theme at the timebe painted for the family chapel at the church of Santa Maria Novella. The three magi in the painting are portraits of Cosimo de Medici and his sons, Piero and Giovanni, all already dead at the time of the commission. In Giorgio Vasaris treatise Lives he writes about the work: The beauty of the heads in this scene is indescribable, their attitudes all different, some full-face, some in profile, some three-quarters, some bent down, and in various other ways, while the expressions of the attendants, both young and old, are greatly varied, displaying the artists perfect mastery of his profession. Sandro further clearly shows the distinction between the suites of each of the kings. It is a marvelous work in colour, design, and composition. Botticelli included also a portrait of Lama, as well as what is thought to be his self-portrait. This work is now currently housed in The Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

The painting was an important commission for Botticelli because it introduced him to the Medici family, who would soon become his primary patron. The Medici were the ruling family of Florence from the 14th century through the late 1730s. Until the 19th century, the country we know now as Italywas composed of warring city-states, each ruled by its own dynastic family, just as the Medici family ruled in Florence. The Medici family began its gradual rise to power in the 14th century by benefit of its involvement in the wool trade, finally achieving ultimate power a century later when Giovanni di Bicci de Medici created the Medici Bank. In so doing, he became one of the wealthiest men in Florence, and some believe the family was the wealthiest in Europe for a period. Despite Giovannis considerable wealth and high social standing, he never held any political power. It was not until his son, Cosimo the Elder, became gran maestro (the unofficial head of state of the Italian city-states) in 1434 that the familys place in history was guaranteed. Cosimo the Elder was the first of a succession of Medici gran maestros, securing the familys power for centuries to come. Having obtained one of the most prominent Italian families as his main source of patronage, Botticelli was assured a bright career and stable future.