Sandro Botticelli

Sandro Botticelli -One of the greatest painters

Sandro Botticelli is one of the most popular painters of the Florentine Renaissance who was born in 1445. This greatest painter's real name was Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi. He was born in Florence, Italy, in the year 1445. His paintings mainly represented the linear grace of Early Renaissance painting. Sandro Botticelli created popular paintings like The Birth of Venus and Primavera that represented the spirit of the Renaissance. This popular Florentine painter and draughtsman were among the most esteemed artists in Italy because of his amazing paintings. 

The early life of Sandro Botticelli:

The greatest Italian painter, Sandro Botticelli, was the son of a tanner named Botticelli; his nickname signifies a small wine cask. Sandro Botticelli was smart beyond his age, due to which he got bored in school at an early age. Sandro Botticelli was popularly known for his sharp wit and his love of practical jokes during his young age. Due to his sharp wit, he quickly earned a hyperactive reputation as a restless and impatient child, for which he was removed from school. After his talent was recognized, he was sent to work as an apprentice. Before entering the workshop of the artist Fra Filippo Lippi, he was first trained with a goldsmith named Maso Finiguerra. 

Sandro Botticelli started his career as a painter by painting frescoes for Florentine churches and cathedrals. Before starting his workshop, he also worked with the popular painter and engraver Antonio del Pollaiuolo. He started his first workshop in 1470 and then, in 1472, joined the confraternity of Florentine painters known as Compagnia di San Luca. Sandro Botticelli also employed his late teacher's son, Filippino Lippi, in his workshop as his apprentice. The best thing was he was able to complete Filippino's version of 'The Adoration of the Kings.'

Sandro Botticelli, the popular painter apprentice with Fra Filippo. And due to this apprenticeship with Fra Filippo, he was able to get multiple contacts which helped him have a successful career.  Sandro Botticelli spent all his life working for the Medici family and friends circle. And he painted some of the most ambitious secular paintings for the Medici family and friends circle, among which Primavera paintings are considered the best ones. Sandro Botticelli was also hired to help decorate the recently completed Sistine Chapel in the Vatican by the Pope to Rome. His paintings were mainly related to the scenes from the Life of Moses and the Temptations of Christ. 

Mythologies, religion, and Politics:

 Sandro Botticelli created many famous mythological works like 'The Birth of Venus' (in the Uffizi, Florence) & 'Venus and Mars.' His mythological works were a perfect combination of the decorative with elements of the classical tradition. During the last fifteen years of his life, Sandro Botticelli seems to undergo a crisis of style and expression. In favor of a more simplistic approach that seemed crude and heavy-handed by contrast, he rejected the ornamental charm of his earlier works. In the later age of his life, he made paintings that had deep meaning and religious overtones. In the later year, Sandro Botticelli becomes depressed and melancholy as his artwork feels out of favor. He never got married in a lifetime, as he preferred the company of his family and friends. He died in May 1510, but his name completely disappeared until the nineteenth century after his death. After the nineteenth century, a developing appreciation for Florentine arts and culture became interested in his work.