BOTTICELLI, Sandro

The only secular frescoes by Botticelli that still exist were discovered 1873, in the Villa Lemmi, at the foot of the Careggi Hill, close to a villa of Cosimo de Medici. They had been concealed under old coats of paint for centuries. Villa Lemmi belonged to the Tornabuoni family, friend of the Medici. It is supposed the frescoes were executed to commemorate the marriage of Lorenzo Tornabuoni and Giovanna degli Albizzi.

The frescoes are in a very poor state of preservation, because they were damaged when taken down from the wall. Two of the three fragments found were transferred to canvas and later sold to the Louvre in Paris. The two compositions were originally separated only by a window.

One of the fragments probably represents Venus and the Three Graces Presenting Gifts to a Young Woman, the other A Young Man Being Introduced to the Seven Liberal Arts.

Even in this poor condition, the two frescoes still have some of the elegance which is the feature of Botticelli’s best compositions. The fact that the figures cannot be entirely identified in no way detracts from their distant charm. It is, however, assumed that this is an allegorical celebration for a newly married couple. Even though the young man is obviously being led towards the female allegories of the seven liberal arts, rhetoric, dialectics, arithmetic, grammar, geometry, astronomy and music, it is unclear who is leading him there.

The lively kicking child between the melancholy Joseph and adoring Mary is, at first sight, closely related in its motifs to the fresco of the Nativity dating from the 1470s. However, when one looks at the firmer folds and contours, it becomes clear that this work must surely have been created some time later, and there are possible stylistic similarities to the two great Lamentation altarpieces.

This painting is one of the first original works (and the earliest biblical history painting) by Botticelli, done during the last years of his five-year apprenticeship under Fra Filippo Lippi. A certain compositional weakness is still visible in the arrangement and positioning of the numerous figures.

The Three Kings’ magnificent retinue has reached the stable in Bethlehem. The eldest king is kneeling humbly in front of the child. The panel painting’s unusual dimensions created difficulties for the young painter. When compared to the crowded group of figures on the left, the right side seems strangely empty.

The Adoration of the Magi demonstrates Botticelli’s continued progression in his handling of this subject. The main event is no longer located to one side, as was the case in the earlier painting, but has been moved into the centre of the picture. In portraying such a detailed wealth of variation, Botticelli was following Leon Battista Alberti, the artist and scholar, who had recommended in his treatise on painting that a picture be so executed as to embrace the greatest possible diversity, for the edification of the observer. Botticelli thus not only painted his figures clothed in highly imaginative robes such as present a wealth of variation, but also captured them in the most varied of postures, gestures and facial expressions. The relationship between the various figures here, and between these figures and the action that is taking place, also appears tighter than in the earlier Adoration, nevertheless, they still do not yet constitute a dramatic unity.

There is such a wealth of figures in this composition that the overall effect can seem quite confusing, but in the centre is the child sitting on Mary’s lap. The scene is a ruined, pseudoclassical temple building. It was considered to be the symbol of the destruction of the heathen world by Christ’s arrival, for according to mediaeval legend an ancient temple of peace collapsed in Rome when Christ was born.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 8 minutes):

Ottorino Respighi: Trittico Botticelliano - L’adorazione dei Magi

Somewhere around 1475, Botticelli painted the famous Adoration of the Magi for Guasparre di Zanobi del Lama, a work in which the artist also depicted himself. This painting established Botticelli’s fame in Florence, and may rightfully be considered the high point of his early artistic output.

Guasparre del Lama was a parvenu from the humblest background with a dubious past - he had been convicted of the embezzlement of public funds in 1447. He had been working since the 1450s as a broker and money-changer, something which brought him considerable wealth. In order that he might also obtain the high social standing which he lacked, he enrolled in the most prestigious brotherhoods and endowed a chapel in Santa Maria Novella, which he decorated with Botticelli’s altar-piece. Del Lama’s career did not last long, for he soon slipped back into his dishonest business practices.

Del Lama may be seen among the crowd of people on the right-hand side of the picture, an elderly man with white hair and a light blue robe looking at the observer and pointing in the latter’s direction with his right hand. The most famous members of the Medici family are portrayed together with del Lama; controversy rages as to their precise identification, although there is no doubt that the eldest king, kneeling before the Virgin and the Christ Child, is a representation of Cosimo the Elder, founder in the 1430s of what would be dynastic rule by the Medici family over Florence for many years to come. Other members: Cosimo’s son Piero, called the Gouty, as the kneeling king with red mantle in the centre, Lorenzo the Magnificent as the young man at his right, in profile, with a black and red mantle.

A comparison of Botticelli’s painting with his earlier representations of the Adoration (both in the National Gallery, London)) reveals the extent to which the artist had further developed and compensated for his earlier weaknesses. The ground rises gently, so that the faces of almost everyone present can be seen, as can the great variety of postures and gestures that these figures embody. However, Botticelli has combined those involved in an ever more compelling fashion to create a dramatic unity, one concentrated wholly upon the main event. Furthermore, he has moved the central king slightly away from the main axis, enabling the observer’s gaze to fall unimpeded upon the Virgin, who is now no longer in danger of becoming lost in the throng, as was still the case in the London portrayal.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 8 minutes):

Ottorino Respighi: Trittico Botticelliano - L’adorazione dei Magi

Botticelli probably executed this painting while still in Rome. An intimation that the picture was perhaps done during Botticelli’s stay in Rome can be seen in the groom in the background on the right who is attempting to bring his horse under control; Botticelli probably adapted this motif from the classical sculptures of the Dioscuri, the horse-tamers, in Rome.

In contrast to Botticelli’s earlier versions of the Adoration, the Virgin and the Christ Child now form the painting’s main focal point, uncontested by any of the figures accompanying them. As in the Adoration done for Guasparre del Lama, those present here are arrayed around the Virgin in a semicircle; in this picture, however, Botticelli has opened up the semicircle towards the observer, so that the latter’s gaze may reach the Virgin unhindered. At the same time, all those involved, their postures and gestures, are directed towards the Mother of God, lending the painting a dramatic unity which the earlier Adorations lacked. The artist’s recording of the figures’ various reactions demonstrates once again the importance for Botticelli of Alberti’s treatise on painting. The art theoretician recommended for the edification of the observer not only the greatest variation in the possible palette of emotions but also the depiction of people of differing age, together with alternation in the perspectives offered by the figures, who should be presented from various sides in three-quarter and half profile or from the front. Botticelli’s wealth of variation in the fashioning of his figures fulfilled all of these demands, yet without losing the central focus of the picture’s content.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 8 minutes):

Ottorino Respighi: Trittico Botticelliano - L’adorazione dei Magi

This is a late painting by Botticelli which shows the influence of Leonardo’s unfinished work of the same subject. In the asymmetry and sweeping quality of this impassioned work, appropriately left unfinished, it appears that Botticelli was the only Florentine artist older than Leonardo to appreciate the potential force of his example and attempt with some effort to equal it.

Botticelli portrays the retinue of the Magi in splendid and luxurious garments. Thus must the parades of the Florentine Brotherhood of the Magi have appeared, who imitated the processions of the Biblical Magi in Botticelli’s day, with members of the most important families participating in pompous attire.

The eldest king is kneeling before Mary in order to kiss her child’s feet.

The magnificent peacock that is clearly visible in the scene is a symbol of the resurrection of Christ, for the bird’s flesh was considered to be imperishable.

This is the only one of Botticelli’s paintings known to have been exported from Italy during the artist’s lifetime. It is recorded as being in the possession of Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Castille, in 1504. It was probably brought to the court of Castille by a merchant, accompanied by various other luxury goods.

This study is one of the most technically practised and gentle that the artist produced. Abundance bears a cornucopia in her arm as a symbol and is accompanied by putti carrying fruit. Her posture and physiognomy are strongly reminiscent of the figures of Flora and Venus in Primavera, giving the study a date somewhere in the first half of the 1480s. The proximity to Primavera may also be seen in the treatment of her dress, which is identical with those of the three dancing Graces. These figures are all clad in transparent garments which cling to their bodies, emphasizing their forms.

The youthful angel, facing to the right, can be dated stylistically to the 1490s, though wingless angels were not a feature of Botticelli’s works during this period. In this work, Botticelli concentrated on the wonderful movement of the garments, a feature that the figure has in common with the round dance of angels in the Coronation of the Virgin. The damaged work was mounted onto paper, and the arm and head were added by another artist at a later stage.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 4 minutes):

C�sar Franck: Panis angelicus

This fresco originally hung over the entrance of San Martino della Scala, a hospital for those stricken with the plague. It was probably erected in gratitude for the end of the bout of plague which had been raging in Florence since 1478. According to a contemporary inscription, the year 1479 saw the burial in the hospital’s cemetery of 20,000 victims of the plague.

The refinement of the colours and impressive composition of the pictorial space are still captivating features, despite the considerable damage that the work suffered in the 17th century. It was taken down in 1920 and moved to the Uffizi.

The usual subject of the announcement to the Virgin Mary by archangel Gabriel is set in a Renaissance palace, overlooking a garden, closed by a crenellated wall at the end. The portico, through which the archangel Gabriel appears, leads into Mary’s room. Behind the Virgin is the tall wooden bed, surrounded by chests and protected by a curtain, shown here moved to one side. The setting therefore offers us some useful information of the fashions in vogue for furnishings in the noble palaces of the Renaissance, including precious carpets, such as the one on which Mary is shown kneeling. The painting is rich with symbolic references to the mother of God, although these are masked behind the everyday appearance of the setting. The walled garden symbolises Mary’s purity, while the awning suggests a parallel between Mary, who carries the Christ Child in her womb, and the drape that covered the Ark of the Covenant.

This fresco is usually considered as related to a certified payment to Sandro Botticelli, made in 1481, shortly before the painter departed for Rome, where he worked on the decorations of the Sistine Chapel.

The large mural was originally under a loggia to the front of the church of San Martino in the hospital of Santa Maria della Scala in Florence, but subsequent architectural changes to the building partly concealed the fresco. It was therefore removed from its wall and restored in 1920.

This is the third scene on the single panel predella of the San Marco Altarpiece.

The angel Gabriel has just made a sweeping entry into Mary’s astonishingly bare chamber, and is kneeling reverently before her and raising his hand in blessing. The Virgin has stopped reading and is humbly bowing her head. There is a door in the centre of the plain, gray walls, opening out onto a broad landscape.

Botticelli depicted the life and work of St Zenobius (337-417), the first bishop of Florence, on four paintings. In the first scene, St Zenobius is shown twice: he rejects the bride that his parents intended him to take in marriage and walks thoughtfully away. The other episodes show the baptism of the young Zenobius and his mother, and on the right his ordination as bishop.

The Virgin is depicted enthroned in an arbour niche between St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist. The detailed fashioning of the meadow flowers and the plants in the arbour niche call to mind Primavera, which Botticelli painted at almost the same time, clearly indicating the temporal proximity of the two works. The flowers represent a eulogy in symbolic form of the Mother of God, the significance allotted each of them being explained by means of thin banderoles attached to the individual plants. With reference to the roses which fill the bowls on the back-rest of the throne bench, for example, we may read, “Like a rose tree in Jericho”; the olive branches in the copper vases behind them bear the comparison, “Like a beautiful olive tree in an open field”. The lemon trees completing the painting on each side have the text: “I am as tall as a cedar from Lebanon.” The fact that Botticelli reproduced lemon trees here instead of cedars may be explained by the common confusion of these plants during the Renaissance, resulting from the ambiguity of the Italian translation of Latin “cedrus” as both cedar and lemon tree.

The texts of the banderoles present Mary as the pure Mother of God. The belief in her immaculate conception had a great following in the 15th century, especially in England. Giovanni Bardi too was clearly not unaffected and prompted Botticelli to produce what was an unusual pictorial composition for the Florence of that time. The careful breaking-down of the plant symbolism through the banderoles likewise stems from a tradition that was more indigenous to the northern countries than to Italy. Giovanni Bardi had presumably seen a similar painting during his period of residence in England and brought the idea back with him to Florence.

Botticelli’s theme was drawn from a famous painting by the Greek artist Apelles, described in classical sources. It was a well-known work in the 15th century. Lucian’s description of this lost work by the classical artist had been widely translated. Apelles produced his painting because he was unjustly slandered by a jealous artistic rival, Antiphilos, who accused him in front of the gullible king of Egypt, Ptolemy, of being an accomplice in a conspiracy. After Apelles had been proven to be innocent, he dealt with his rage and desire for revenge by painting this picture.

In his painting, Botticelli kept the scenic structure of the composition of the figures to Lucian’s description, and created a lavishly decorated architectural backdrop for them.

An innocent man is dragged before the kings throne by the personifications of Calumny, Malice, Fraud and Envy. They are followed to one side by Remorse as an old woman, turning to face the naked Truth, who is pointing towards heaven. The nakedness of Truth places her in a relationship with the innocent youth, whose folded hands are also an appeal to a higher power.

Remorse as an old woman, turning to face the naked Truth. Botticelli based his figure of Truth on the classical type of the Venus pudica, as well as his own depictions of Venus. She is a naked beauty, an effective opposite to the personification of Remorse, an old, grief-stricken woman in threadbare clothes. Truth, like the innocent youth, is almost naked as she has nothing to conceal. The eloquent gestures and expression of the only towering figure in the painting are pointing up towards heaven, where a higher justice will be meted out.

Rancour, clothed in black, is dragging Calumny forward with his right hand; as a symbol of the lies which she has spread, she is holding a burning torch in her left hand, while she is pulling her victim, an almost naked youth, by the hair behind her with her right hand. His innocence is shown by his nakedness, signifying that he has nothing to hide. In vain has he folded his hands so as to beseech his deliverance. Behind Calumny, the figures of Fraud and Perfidy are studiously engaged in hypocritically braiding the hair of their mistress with a white ribbon and strewing roses over her head and shoulders. In the deceitful forms of beautiful young women, they are making insidious use of the symbols of purity and innocence to adorn the lies of Calumny.

The king is sitting on the right-hand side of the picture on a raised throne in an open hall decorated with reliefs and sculptures. He is flanked by the allegorical figures of Ignorance and Suspicion, who are eagerly whispering the rumours in his donkey’s ears, the latter to be understood as symbolizing his rash and foolish nature. His eyes are lowered, so as he is unable to see what is happening; he is stretching out his hand searchingly towards Rancour, who is standing before him.

Set against a background of flawless perspective, the two figures face each other in a dialogue accentuated by the sinuous lines of their robes.

The architectural motifs of the landscape with river which spreads out in the background reveal northern features. A multi-towered, mediaeval castle rises on a bizarrely shaped mountain to the left.

The hands of the angel and Mary constitute the central point of the painting. Annunciation and acceptance of the message are expressed in a fascinating manner here.

This panel was commissioned from Sandro Botticelli in 1489 by Florentine moneychanger, Benedetto di ser Francesco Guardi for the family chapel in the church of Santa Maria Maddalena, in borgo Pinti, Florence. The essential nature of the scene, almost bare of furnishings, the sober clothing of the archangel Gabriel and Mary, featuring a limited use of colour tones and decorations, the accentuated, almost theatrical gestures of the subjects, reflect the search for simplicity and the religious fervor that had become established in the sermons of Dominican monk, Girolamo Savonarola. There are some of the usual elements of Marian symbolism, such as the opening in the wall that suggests a door of heaven to Mary, and the walled garden visible in the background, an emblem of Mary’s virginity.

The painting has its original frame, painted at the bottom with the emblems of the customer and the figure of Christ in pieta. There are also two inscriptions in Latin, taken from the Gospel of St Luke (Luke 1, 35, and Luke 1, 38) alluding to the incarnation of God’s son in Mary’s womb.

The picture, commissioned in 1489, was painted for the church of the Florentine convent of Cestello (today Santa Maria Maddalena de’Pazzi) in Borgo Pinti.

Botticelli enables the observer to look through a room structured according to the laws of perspective and across the red floor tiles, along its converging lines, out onto a landscape. The lively movement of the figures contrasts with these spatial dynamics, which lead towards the background. There is a diagonal line running from the edge of Gabriel’s robes to his raised hand, and it continues in the arm which Mary is holding across her chest. The angel’s robes, which are billowing in great folds, show that he has just made a sweeping landing. Gabriel is kneeling reverently in front of Mary and his mouth, which is slightly open, suggests that he is in the process of speaking the words of St. Luke’s Gospel, which are written underneath him in Latin on the painting’s original frame: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.”

Two further versions of the same theme also still exist, and they are now kept in Detroit and Cambridge. There are only slight differences between the three devotional pictures, and they were produced by Botticelli’s workshop in accordance with his designs. There are iconographical models in Flemish painting, such as the works of Hans Memling.

The picture shows the fourth (central) predella panel of the St Barnaba Altarpiece.

The Passion of Christ, to which the large main panel also alludes, is the theme of the predella panel. Christ is standing in a stone sarcophagus, displaying his stigmata. In front of him lie the instruments of his Passion, the crown of thorns and nails. To the right, in the background, the Bearing of the Cross can be made out. To the left, swans are swimming on a river. They were well-known for their delightful death songs.

Botticelli painted this altarpiece, which is the largest of those works still in existence and which was created for the church of the Dominican monastery of San Marco in Florence. The guild of goldsmiths, which was responsible for the maintenance and decoration of this church, ordered the altar for their own chapel. It was dedicated to their patron saint Eligius. The lavish use of the expensive gold paint was probably due to the identity of the clients, who wanted to make a sumptuous display of their profession. The gold background in the upper part of the painting marks the dividing line between the heavenly and earthly spheres. Nonetheless, both worlds meet within the confines of a single picture, something which was extremely unusual in the painting of the age.

The four saints - John the Evangelist, the Fathers of the Church St. Augustine and St. Jerome, and St. Eligius - are standing in a semicircle on a meadow. Behind them, on either side of a lake, is an extensive landscape. As is typical of Botticelli’s economical and schematic composition, it is merely a decorative addition to the monumental figures. The coronation of the Virgin in a glory of seraphs and cherubs is all the more lavish. God the Father and the Virgin are enthroned on an airy carpet of clouds, setting them apart from the dancing groups of angels. Two artistic qualities become clear in this heavenly scene: Botticelli’s exceptional feeling for the ornamental structuring of forms and his artistic inventiveness. He fits the heavenly aureole into the semicircular top of the picture, which reflects the domed architecture of the Eligius Chapel. He playfully groups the whirlwind round dance of the angels about the heavenly scene and this creates an illusion of depth.

The four saints - John the Evangelist, the Fathers of the Church St. Augustine and St. Jerome, and St. Eligius - are standing in a semicircle on a meadow. Behind them, on either side of a lake, is an extensive landscape.

The angels are holding each other’s hands and urging one another on in order to give their dance the necessary movement. The one on the left, wearing the yellow robe, is depicted in a bold foreshortening and seems about to make his way out of the picture.

This severely damaged painting is an expression of the fears that arose as the new century came closer. Behind the Cross, in the dark clouds, are devils throwing flames. At the top left. God has sent out angels in order to protect the city of Florence. Repentance will be needed in order to procure salvation, as is made clear by the figure of Mary Magdalene at the bottom of the Cross.

The city of Florence may be seen in the background, spread out in bright light under a clear sky. Within the city walls, the dome of the Cathedral, the Campanile, the Baptistery and the Palazzo Vecchio - the seat of government - to name but a few buildings, are readily recognizable.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 22 minutes):

Heinrich Sch�tz: Die sieben Worte am Kreuz SWV 478

Dante imagined Hell as being an abyss with nine circles, which in turn divided into various rings. Botticelli’s cross-section view of the underworld is drawn so finely and precisely that it is possible to trace the individual stops made by Dante and Virgil on their descent to the centre of the earth.

This coloured drawing on parchment shows the Abyss of Hell.

Several remarkable illustrated Dante manuscripts exist. Certainly the most famous illustrations of the Divina Commedia are the superb drawings Sandro Botticelli planned for a de luxe manuscript commissioned by Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici. Although they have remained unfinished, they constitute a pinnacle of the art of book illustration in the Quattrocento.

This almost completely coloured silverpoint drawing gives us an impression of the magnificent way in which all the miniatures were to be produced. It is an illustration to the Inferno, canto XVIII. The main figures, Dante and Virgil, are emphasized by their vibrantly shining robes. While journeying through the ditches of Hell, they first encounter the souls of procurers and seducers being tortured by devils, and then those of sycophants and prostitutes, who are being made to suffer while immersed in ordure.

This illustration to the Inferno is a silverpoint drawing on parchment, completed in pen and ink, coloured with tempera.

This illustration to the Inferno is a silverpoint drawing on parchment, completed in pen and ink, coloured with tempera.

The picture shows the sixth predella panel of the St Barnaba Altarpiece.

While being martyred, the saint told his tormentors that they would find the name of Christ written on his heart. After his death two curious Christians attempted to find out if this was true. They miraculously discovered golden letters, invisible in this painting, on his heart.

The painting was commissioned for the Tribunale della Mercatanzia (a court where crimes of an economic nature were judged) and it was Botticelli’s most prestigious work of the 1470s. The entire series of Virtues had been ordered from Piero del Pollaiolo.

The figure of Fortitude is placed on a high throne with elaborately carved arms, a piece clearly traceable to Verocchio, but the feeling of tension that this thoughtful figure gives off surely comes from Antonio del Pollaiolo. The blue enamel work on the armour and the highlights on the metal are particularly interesting as they indicate a thorough knowledge of the goldsmith’s art. The way in which the cloth is portrayed comes from Verocchio. The energy and vitality of the girl in armour, expressed in her face and her pose, is an original creation of Botticelli and shows clearly the very personal way in which he developed and enriched the styles of his contemporaries.

Three similar portraits of Giuliano de’ Medici still exist, in Berlin, Bergamo, and Washington. In contrast to the version in Washington, the portraits that are now in Berlin and Bergamo were probably not created until after Giuliano’s assassination during the Pazzi conspiracy in 1478, when copies would have been ordered by friends and relatives as commemorative portraits.

Three similar portraits of Giuliano de’ Medici still exist, in Berlin, Bergamo, and Washington. In contrast to the version in Washington, the portraits that are now in Berlin and Bergamo were probably not created until after Giuliano’s assassination during the Pazzi conspiracy in 1478, when copies would have been ordered by friends and relatives as commemorative portraits.

This depiction of an angel, head and shoulders, is a fragment that once formed part of a tondo, most likely depicting the Virgin and Child with St John the Baptist and an Angel.

The altarpiece shows the Holy Trinity with Mary Magdalene, St John the Baptist and Tobias and the Angel

The Holy Trinity appears as a vision between the penitent saints Magdalene and John in a bleak desert landscape. The Baptist is inviting the observer to worship the Trinity, and Mary Magdalene is turning to face it full of emotion. The exhausted figure of the penitent, a late work of Donatello’s, had a decisive influence on Botticelli’s Magdalene.

The penitent sinner was the patron saint of the nuns’ monastery of the Magdalenes, and this pala or altarpiece was ordered for their church. The figures of Tobias and the angel are very small compared to the others. They might be a reference to the donors of the altar, the guild of doctors and apothecaries: archangel Raphael was their patron saint.

The archangel Raphael is leading the young Tobias by the hand. He is holding a small box, and Tobias is carrying a fish in a noose. The fish is Tobias’ attribute. He was advised by the angel to use its gallbladder to restore his blind father’s sight; the miraculous gallbladder was kept in the box.

In this detail of the drawing (silverpoint on parchment, completed in pen and ink, coloured with tempera) we see Dante with Virgil, his guide, in the eighth circle, which consists of ten deep chasms in which those guilty of fraud are punished.

This sheet depicts the giants of antiquity, who had risen up against the gods and were placed in chains. They represent the raw power of nature.

This detail from the thirty-fourth and final Canto depicts three-headed Lucifer, engaged in crushing the three greatest sinners of mankind, namely Brutus and Cassius - Caesar’s murderers - as well as Judas, who betrayed Christ.

The stylistic change undergone by Botticelli’s art is demonstrated especially vividly through a comparison of his Judith Leaving the Tent of Holofernes, from the late 1490s, with the work of similar subject from some thirty years previously.

In the earlier work, the picture was dominated by movement and lively gracefulness; now, concentrated pictorial composition and simplicity come to the fore. With the former picture, the observer’s thoughts were distracted by the detailed presentation of the figures and the background; in the later version, Botticelli has left out everything that could divert attention from the principal figure, from Judith herself. Thus, Abra the maid no longer appears next to Judith, but is relegated to the dark opening of the tent in the background. At the same time, Botticelli has reduced everything of a decorative nature to a minimum. Background and earth appear merely as a monotone surface, while the dark, unadorned garments remind one that the elegant flow of folds found in the bright, richly ornamented dress of the earlier portrayals is absent here. In this work too, the form of Judith herself strikes us as having overlong proportions, such as strangely distort her and present a crass contrast to the gracefulness of the earlier Judith. Botticelli was evidently less concerned in this late phase with entertaining the observer, concentrating rather on a form of his pictorial subject matter which would edify and instruct.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 17 minutes):

Alessandro Scarlatti: La Giuditta, oratorio, Part I (excerpts)

The stylistic changes in Botticelli’s late work are especially striking in the two paintings of the Lamentation over the Dead Christ (in Munich and Milan). Botticelli was reacting in these pictures to the new religious sensibility in Florence.

As in the earlier Lamentation in Munich, the scene is brought vividly close to the observer, in order to create feelings of sympathy in him. The group of mourners in front of the dark rock tomb is arranged in the form of a cross. At its top is Joseph of Arimathea. He is gazing painfully up to heaven as he holds out the instruments of Christ’s Passion.

The stylistic changes in Botticelli’s late work are especially striking in the two paintings of the Lamentation over the Dead Christ (in Munich and Milan). Botticelli was reacting in these pictures to the new religious sensibility in Florence.

The dead Christ is lying lifelessly on a fine cloth in his mother’s lap, and she has fallen back in a swoon against the shoulders of his favourite disciple, John. The two Marys are gently supporting the head and feet of the crucified man. Mary Magdalene is fearfully and sorrowfully gazing at the crucifixion nails. St Jerome, St Paul and St Peter are observing the moving scene. The fervent gestures and postures of the figures express their grief at the death of Christ - a religious emotion intended to include the observer.

Originally the painting was in the church of San Paolino in Florence. After restoring in the Galleria degli Uffizi in 1813 it was purchased by the King of Bavaria.

A child is run over by a cart while playing. His mother, a widow, wails as she brings the dead child to St Zenobius’ deacon. By means of a prayer not depicted here, St Zenobius is able to revive the child and restore him to his mother. On the far right, the bishop, who has meanwhile turned gray, blesses those praying by his deathbed.

The theme of the Madonna and Child embracing, which was extremely widespread in the sculpture and painting of the Quattrocento, is derived from a Byzantine pictorial type. What is new here is the motif of the loggia, which still makes a rather flat impression behind the figures, although the even fall of the light is attempting to integrate it properly into the scene.

In this and a series of similar paintings, the young artist was trying out the repertoire of motifs associated with the theme of the Madonna and Child.

Two angels are lifting the child up to the Madonna, who is lost in thought. Almost casually, she gently holds her child’s feet, and he is looking at his mother in just as solemn and spellbound a manner as the two angels. Behind the group, which is composed to form a powerful, elegant linear design, is the corner of a wall, an allusion to the Hortus Conclusus, the enclosed garden which is a symbol of Marys virginity.

The Virgin is solemnly handing the Christ Child down to the young Baptist for him to embrace. It is a devotional scene that positively forces the observer to his knees. Its sentimental character reflects the emphatic piety of the early 1490s. The painting was produced in collaboration with Botticelli’s workshop. It must have become extremely popular with the public, for several surviving replicas produced by the workshop are known.

The so-called Raczynski Tondo was named after the private collection of which it was part before being acquired at the end of the 19th century by the Berlin Gemäldegalerie. It is possible that this is the painting that Vasari said hung in the church of San Francesco (now San Salvatore al Monte). There is a strict symmetrical structure to the composition with its life- size figures, and the finely toned down colours are very charming.

Surrounded by eight wingless angels, Mary is breastfeeding her Child. There is direct eye contact with the observer, involving him in the intimate scene. The angels are holding lilies, the sign of Mary’s purity, and are engaged in antiphonal singing: while some of them are calmly waiting to start, the others are singing and reverently looking at a hymn book.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 4 minutes):

C�sar Franck: Panis angelicus

Masterwork of the young Botticelli, this painting takes name from the Florentine convent of Sant’Ambrogio, where it was placed in 1808 before the transfer to Accademia and Uffizi galleries. This panel is considered to be the first monumental piece commissioned from Botticelli, as well as one of his first altarpieces.

This type of altar painting is called a Sacra Conversazione, and it shows the enthroned Madonna surrounded by saints. To the left are Mary Magdalene with the ointment jar and St John the Baptist wearing furs, and to the right are St Francis of Assisi in the Franciscans’ habit and Catherine of Alexandria with her wheel. The two kneeling saints, Cosmas and Damian, were patron saints of both the Medicis and doctors and pharmacists.

It is possible that this somewhat awkward painting of the Madonna was produced while Botticelli was still working in the workshop of his teacher, Filippo Lippi. The initial inspiration for the painting came from the latter’s famous Madonna in the Uffizi. Botticelli replaced the landscape with an arched architecture which frames the heads of the mother and child and emphasizes the two main figures as the centre of the devotional scene.

This picture of the Virgin by Botticelli is among his earliest paintings. It reveals the close extent to which the young artist imitated the depictions of the Virgin done by Fra Filippo Lippi, his teacher.

This painting shows the synthesis of trends that formed the style of Botticelli’s painting. The composition of the painting resembles Lippi’s art, but the figures are more delicately blended into the painting and their expressions and poses are more complicated.

Behind the monumental, very sculptural figures is a broad, hilly landscape with a river. The boy-like angel appears to have just this moment stepped through the gap in the wall and come up to Mary and the child; he is presenting them with a bowl decorated with ears of grain and full of grapes. The Christ Child is blessing the gifts, which symbolize the bread and wine of the Eucharist.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 4 minutes):

C�sar Franck: Panis angelicus

Some panel paintings of the Madonna by Botticelli remain from the years around 1470 which are striking expressions of Botticelli’s stylistic development. Two full figure pictures of the Madonna - the Madonna in Glory and the Madonna of the Rosegarden - are in the Uffizi. They represent monumental seated figures filling the entire picture.

Mary is enthroned on clouds in a glory of seraphim. The Christ Child, with the cruciform nimbus, is looking towards the observer and raising his hand in blessing. Botticelli has succeeded in expressing the tensions in this theme with sensitivity: the mother, who is fully aware of the Passion her son will suffer, is holding him protectively in her arms.

The Madonna del Libro is a design that is extremely gentle and beautiful; it is a small vertical format panel painting. Mary and the Child are sitting in a corner of the room in front of the window, and her hand is resting on an open book. Some words are visible, showing that this is a Book of Hours, the Home beatae Mariae. As a symbol of his future Passion, the Christ Child is holding the three nails of the Cross and the crown of thorns.

Botticelli created the additions to the scene with a great deal of loving detail, and the ensemble of boxes and a lavish fruit bowl is very much like a still-life. The parchment pages of the book, the materials and the transparent veils have an incredibly tangible quality to them. Another refinement of Botticelli’s painting is the gold filigree with which he decorated the robes and objects. The use of expensive gold paint was a result of a contractual agreement made with the clients, which laid down the price of the painting.

The Virgin Mary, crowned by two angels, is depicted on a throne. Under the guidance of her son, she is writing the canticle “Magnificat anima mea Dominum” (My soul doth magnify the Lord), which gives the painting its title. Jesus is sitting in his mother’s lap. He is touching a pomegranate, a fruit with many symbolic meanings, and whose red seeds recall the blood shed by Jesus to save humankind. The scene takes place before a window that opens out onto a bright, peaceful country landscape; above, the Serena stone frame creates a division between the kingdom of Heaven and the earth. The religious theme becomes almost temporal in the fashionable, elegant hairstyles of Mary and the angels, who, as in various other works by Botticelli, are without wings. The Virgin’s blonde hair with bright gold finish is covered by transparent veils under a richly decorated maphorion, while the hairstyles and clothing of the angels are based on the fashions followed by the scions of the rich Florentine families of the late 15th century.

The originality of the work, together with the sophisticated elegance of the clothing and hair, and the grace of Mary’s engrossed expression, have, over the years, brought renown to the invention of Botticelli, whose figures embody an ideal of beauty that was greatly appreciated during the 20th century.

Botticelli created his Madonna del Magnificat in the early 1480s. At the time, it was in all likelihood his most famous picture of the Virgin, something indicated by the five contemporary replicas which we have of the painting.

The painting was lavishly covered with gold paint; like the Raczynski Tondo, it contains nearly life-size figures. The Virgin, crowned by two angels, is depicted as the Queen of Heaven. Two of the wingless angels are crowning the Queen of Heaven. The crown she is wearing is a delicate piece of goldsmiths work consisting of innumerable stars; they are an allusion to the ‘Stella matutina’ (morning star), one of the Mother of God’s names in contemporary hymns devoted to Mary.

There is such a complex solution to the sequence of crowded figures in front of the stone window that it is possible to look out between Mary and the angels on the left onto a broad landscape laid out according to the rules of atmospheric perspective. The three angels have moved towards the Virgin and Child. The one at the front is kneeling and holding an open book and inkwell. Encouraged by the Christ Child, the Virgin is about to dip her quill and write the last words of the Magnificat, beginning on the right page with the large initial “M”. The pomegranate which the mother and child are both holding is a symbol of the Passion and adds to the basic melancholy and meditative mood of the painting.

The background of the picture opens out into a landscape, in similar manner to the background in the Madonna del Libra where the open window allows the observer a glimpse of the view outside. These landscapes point to the influence exerted upon Botticelli by contemporary Netherlands’ artists such as Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden and Hubert van der Goes. Trading relations between Italy and the Netherlands had been growing more intensive since the 15th century, resulting in many Florentine merchants and bankers travelling northwards. Among the mementos which these people brought back were paintings revealing other artistic conceptions and ideals. The Italian painters particularly admired the detailed execution of individual pictorial motifs, the realistic fashioning of the figures in the pictures, and the atmospheric effect of the landscapes as rendered in the art of their colleagues north of the Alps, and each incorporated the motifs of the latter into his own pictures after his own manner.

This portrait of the Virgin represents the costliest tondo that Botticelli ever created: in no other painting did he employ so much gold as in this one, using it for the ornamentation of the robes, for the divine rays, and for Mary’s crown, and even utilizing it to heighten the hair colour of Mary and the angels. As the most expensive paint, gold was normally used only sparingly. Its liberal employment here will therefore have been at the express wish of the person commissioning the work.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 33 minutes):

Johann Sebastian Bach: Magnificat in D major, BWV 243

Botticelli created his Madonna del Magnificat in the early 1480s. At the time, it was in all likelihood his most famous picture of the Virgin, something indicated by the five contemporary replicas which we have of the painting.

The painting was lavishly covered with gold paint; like the Raczynski Tondo, it contains nearly life-size figures. The Virgin, crowned by two angels, is depicted as the Queen of Heaven. Two of the wingless angels are crowning the Queen of Heaven. The crown she is wearing is a delicate piece of goldsmiths work consisting of innumerable stars; they are an allusion to the ‘Stella matutina’ (morning star), one of the Mother of God’s names in contemporary hymns devoted to Mary.

There is such a complex solution to the sequence of crowded figures in front of the stone window that it is possible to look out between Mary and the angels on the left onto a broad landscape laid out according to the rules of atmospheric perspective. The three angels have moved towards the Virgin and Child. The one at the front is kneeling and holding an open book and inkwell. Encouraged by the Christ Child, the Virgin is about to dip her quill and write the last words of the Magnificat, beginning on the right page with the large initial “M”. The pomegranate which the mother and child are both holding is a symbol of the Passion and adds to the basic melancholy and meditative mood of the painting.

The background of the picture opens out into a landscape, in similar manner to the background in the Madonna del Libra where the open window allows the observer a glimpse of the view outside. These landscapes point to the influence exerted upon Botticelli by contemporary Netherlands’ artists such as Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden and Hubert van der Goes. Trading relations between Italy and the Netherlands had been growing more intensive since the 15th century, resulting in many Florentine merchants and bankers travelling northwards. Among the mementos which these people brought back were paintings revealing other artistic conceptions and ideals. The Italian painters particularly admired the detailed execution of individual pictorial motifs, the realistic fashioning of the figures in the pictures, and the atmospheric effect of the landscapes as rendered in the art of their colleagues north of the Alps, and each incorporated the motifs of the latter into his own pictures after his own manner.

This portrait of the Virgin represents the costliest tondo that Botticelli ever created: in no other painting did he employ so much gold as in this one, using it for the ornamentation of the robes, for the divine rays, and for Mary’s crown, and even utilizing it to heighten the hair colour of Mary and the angels. As the most expensive paint, gold was normally used only sparingly. Its liberal employment here will therefore have been at the express wish of the person commissioning the work.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 33 minutes):

Johann Sebastian Bach: Magnificat in D major, BWV 243

Encouraged by the Christ Child, the Virgin is about to dip her quill and write the last words of the Magnificat, beginning on the right page with the large initial “M”.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 13 minutes):

Henri Dumont: Magnificat

Encouraged by the Christ Child, the Virgin is about to dip her quill and write the last words of the Magnificat, beginning on the right page with the large initial “M”.

The lines on the left page of the book are from the Benedictus, the song of praise which Zachariah sang in St Luke’s Gospel upon the birth of his son St John the Baptist. As the latter was the patron saint of the city of Florence, it is more than likely that the man who commissioned the work was also a Florentine.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 22 minutes):

Heinrich Sch�tz: Magnificat

The picture’s title is explained by the pomegranate in Mary’s hand: this should be understood as symbolizing Christ’s Passion, the wealth of seeds conveying the fullness of Christ’s suffering. A comparison of this painting with Botticelli’s earlier tondo Madonna del Magnificat reveals that the artist has now arranged the angels symmetrically, thereby avoiding the compositional difficulties of the older depiction.

The Christ Child, whose hand is raised in blessing, is lying securely in the arms of Mary, but the sad, melancholy expression on the faces of mother and child are intended to remind the observer of the torments the Son of God will suffer in the future. The angels are worshipping Mary with lilies and garlands of roses. The Rosary is a prayer that was created in its present form in the 15th century, and rapidly became widespread. The beginning of this prayer is embroidered on the left angel s stola: AVE GRAZIA PLENA (Hail Mary, full of grace).

The picture’s title is explained by the pomegranate in Mary’s hand: this should be understood as symbolizing Christ’s Passion, the wealth of seeds conveying the fullness of Christ’s suffering.

Some panel paintings of the Madonna by Botticelli remain from the years around 1470 which are striking expressions of Botticelli’s stylistic development. Two full figure pictures of the Madonna - the Madonna in Glory and the Madonna of the Rosegarden - are in the Uffizi. They represent monumental seated figures filling the entire picture.

Arising strictly from the format of the picture, the arch structure frames the group of mother and child sitting on a stone bench. There is a powerful three-dimensional quality to the figures. Behind the Madonna we can look out onto a garden. A rose bush is clearly visible there, a traditional symbolic image referring to Mary.

Composition, shape and stylistic elements put this Madonna and Child close to another panel painted by Botticelli in his youth, the Fortitude, dated around 1470.

The attribution to Botticelli of this painting, coming from the convent of Santa Felicita in Florence, is debated. The panel was dameged and partly repainted.

This is the fifth scene on the single panel predella of the San Marco Altarpiece.

According to legend, St Eligius shod a horse that was possessed by devils. He cut one of the horses legs off, and after completing his work reattached it while making the sign of the Cross. The Devil, portrayed as a woman with horns, is watching the holy smith. A groom is having considerable difficulty controlling the impetuous horse.

On the left of the Virgin is St John the Baptist, St Ignatius of Antioch as a bishop, and the arcchangel St Michael, who provides aid in battles.

The drawing is based on the same female figure as the Allegory of Abundance. The olive branch and the armor, the appearance of the latter can only be guessed at due to the way the paper has been trimmed, show her to be Pallas Athena, the classical goddess of the arts and sciences. The drawing was part of the design process for a tapestry which is now privately owned in France.

According to the inventory of 1499 which lists the property of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici, cousin of Lorenzo the Magnificent,the painting Pallas and the Centaur hung above a door in the same room as the Primavera. Its bare landscape focuses one’s gaze on the two figures. A centaur has trespassed on forbidden territory. This lusty being, half horse and half man, is being brought under control by a guard armed with a shield and halberd, and she has grabbed him by the hair. The woman has been identified both as the goddess Pallas Athena and the Amazon Camilla, chaste heroine of Virgil’s Aeneid. What is undisputed is the moral content of the painting, in which virtue is victorious over sensuality.

This painting marks the end of Botticelli’s Medicean period, from this point onwards the subject-matter of his paintings changes and becomes increasingly religious.

The centaur looks worriedly at the somewhat taller woman standing next to him, who is imperiously grabbing at his hair.

In the Empyrean, the upper heaven, Dante and Beatrice are carried upwards in a river of light, from which fly sparkles which Botticelli depicts as little putti. They disappear in the meadows of flowers along the banks on either side. The one on the right had not been retraced with ink and was a preliminary drawing carried out in silver point.

The striking profile of the poet, which has been drawn over in black, clearly contrasts with the light background. In accordance with traditional depictions, Dante is wearing a red cloak and red cap above a white bonnet. Botticelli was surely familiar with Domenico de Michelino’s fresco of Dante in Florence Cathedral, as this was the first to show the poet with a laurel wreath on his head.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 16 minutes):

Franz Liszt: Dante-sonata

This is perhaps the most authentic portrait of Giuliano, assuming that it was painted in the lifetime of Giuliano. However, the death symbols (the dove sitting on the dead branch and the half-open door) on the picture seem to contradict this assumption.

The portrait of Giuliano de’ Medici (1453-1478), the younger brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent, is turned to the right and there are no less than three known version of it. Giuliano had been killed on 26 April 1478, while mass was being celebrated in Florence Cathedral, during the course of an attack made by the Pazzi family, who were the Medicis’ rivals for power and banking business.

Botticelli placed this portrait in a most skilful relationship with the framing forms. In the background, one window shutter is open, allowing us to see the blue sky, and the other is behind the subjects bowed head. The dove by the window jamb is a symbol of loyalty, and for this reason it is thought that Giuliano commissioned this portrait following the death of his courtly love, Simonetta.

Lorenzo di Ser Piero Lorenzi was Professor of Philosophy and Medicine in Pisa, whose reputation reached its height at the end of the 15th century. His death was less distinguished, however, he threw himself into a well out of despair at being able to raise money for the purchase price of a house in Florence.

If the inscription on the window jamb, possibly dating from the 16th century, is to be believed, this is a portrait of Smeralda Bandinelli (Brandini), who was a member of a respected Florentine family, the grandmother of the Florentine sculptor Baccio Bandinelli. A sign of her rank and respectable status is the handkerchief which she is holding in the hand placed across her body.

According to Berenson, the sitter of this portrait is Michele Marullo (1453-1500), known as Tarcaniota, a Greek humanist, who was the guest of the Medici’s between 1489 and 1495. Later, in 1496, he returned to Florence and married the woman poet Alessandra Scala. He left Florence in 1490 and soon after he died by drowning into the river Cecina.

This painting can be considered an ideal scholar portrait, a forerunner of those portrayals of philosopher-heroes developed in the seventeenth century, e.g. by Luca Giordano.

The painting is in a very poor state of preservation.

Datable soon after 1470. By this time the language of Botticelli under the inspiration of Pollaiolo has become more precise, and through the vibration of the line, expresses a tense inquietude of spirit.

The picture of this unidentified young man is one of the most unusual portraits of the Early Renaissance. The man is gazing at the observer and holding up a medal bearing the profile of the head of Cosimo de’ Medici, who died in 1464. Botticelli set the medal into the painting as a gilded plaster cast.

The painting is a a half length portrait in front of an extensive light landscape with a river, and the man’s head projects above the horizon. The light, which falls on the subject from the left, clearly shapes his striking features, and there are stronger shadows on the side of his face closer to the observer. The poor drawing of his hands makes the experimental nature of this portrait more than clear. It is one of the earliest Italian portraits to make the hands a part of the portrait’s theme.

The commemorative medal of Cosimo dates from about 1465-70 and has given rise to an entire series of suggestions concerning the identity of the man depicted. So far it has not been possible to give a definitive answer to the question whether this is a close relative or supporter of the Medicis, or perhaps the man who created the medal.

Botticelli painted this portrait in a three quarter view like a silhouette against a pale blue sky. The young man, who is looking very slightly down towards the observer, is wearing a red jerkin and the characteristic headgear of the Florentine Quattrocento, the mazzocchio. The hat band which is casually draped across his shoulder provides an artistic frame for the young man’s face.

The sitter of the portrait is probably Gianlorenzo de’ Medici, and it could very well be Botticelli’s first commissioned work, and from the hair and the clothes, the portrait must date from no later than 1469.

In his later portraits Botticelli frequently dispensed with landscapes or interiors in the background, instead concentrating solely on the person being portrayed. One of his most beautiful portraits is that of the unknown young man wearing a red cap, the only known en face portrait by the artist. It is captivating due to the vivid and alert presence of the model, whose youthful informality the artist has succeeded in capturing masterfully.

Until the mid-19th century this portrait was attributed to Giorgione, Filippino Lippi or Masaaccio. The identity of the sitter is unknown.

In this portrait Botticelli goes beyond the mere tracing of physical appearance and penetrates into the world of human emotion. He uses the turn of the head, glance of the eye, and form of the hand to create a reflective mood in which one can sense the presence of mixed emotion - that most delicate of human experiences - which is felt as youth passes into manhood, the mingling of expectation and sadness.

This painting of a Young Man Holding a Roundel embodies Sandro Botticelli’s greatest achievements as a portraitist. Botticelli was celebrated in this field, yet precious few examples of his portraits survive today. Were it not for his fashionable tunic, the supremely elegant individual depicted here could have stepped out of one of Botticelli’s mythological or religious paintings, so striking is his resemblance to the beautiful figures that inhabit those works. Innovative in form and at the same time wholly characteristic of Botticelli’s genius, this timeless masterpiece dates to the height of his career. It represents the perfect visual expression of late quattrocento Florentine culture, yet the crisp simplicity of its setting and the lifelike presence of the sitter renders it profoundly modern.

One of this picture’s most fascinating elements is the round, gold ground panel proudly held in the hands of the dashing young man - an older work of art set into the new. It is by Bartolomeo Bulgarini, a fourteenth century Sienese artist whose refined technique reveals the influence of Duccio, Ugolino di Nerio and Pietro Lorenzetti.

One of this picture’s most fascinating elements is the round, gold ground panel proudly held in the hands of the dashing young man - an older work of art set into the new. It is by Bartolomeo Bulgarini, a fourteenth century Sienese artist whose refined technique reveals the influence of Duccio, Ugolino di Nerio and Pietro Lorenzetti. The grain of the wood and the truncated punchwork of the background confirm it as a fragment - one not always round in shape, but rather cut out of a larger, vertical panel. The saint is depicted half-length with a long grey beard, balding head and wearing a grey mantle atop an orange robe. Set against a gilded background, he is surrounded by a network of geometric punchwork. The saint lacks any identifiable iconographic attributes, and only his right hand is visible, raised in an apparent gesture of blessing.

There are several assumptions concerning the identity of the young woman (Simonetta Vespucci, Clarice Orsini, Fioretta Gorini etc.). The painting is also known by the title “Bella Simonetta”. The picture was partly repainted. The sleeve of the robe covers the left hand in a very unnatural way.

The lock of hair coming loose from her bun gives a more spontaneous feeling to this severe profile portrait. The half length figure is slightly to the left of the centre of the picture. Behind her is a dark window frame and it contrasts with the gentle flow other contours.

In the tradition of Italian portrait painting in the early Renaissance, inspired by ancient coins, the woman is depicted in profile, a pose which enabled the artist to faithfully represent facial features, hairstyles and clothing which were essential indicators of the subject’s social status. However, in this case the woman wears no jewelry and is not shrouded in excess luxury: the sophistication of the gown, a gamur, is portrayed only by its crimson color, very much in fashion at the time, and the puffed sleeves created by the cuts in the fabric, separated from the gown itself.

The sitter is identified as Simonetta Vespucci on basis of a portrait by Piero di Cosimo. The attribution to Botticelli is debated, some scholars give the painting to Jacopo del Sellaio.

The authorship of Botticelli is debated. The identity of the sitter is not known, Simonetta Vespucci, Lucrezia Tornabuoni and Clarice Orsini are mentioned (but not proved) in the literature as probable sitter.