Sandro Botticelli was an Italian painter in the Florentine school during the early Renaissance. He lived from 1444/5 to 1510 and was apprenticed to Fra Filippo Lippi. Among his many works were illustrations for Dante’s inferno.
One of the most intriguing things about Boticelli was that he took part in the Bonfire of the Vanities, which was the burning in 1497 of objects that were deemed evil by the Dominican priest Savonarola. Botticelli even burned some of his own paintings because their subjects were pagan. Fortunately two such paintings, The Birth of Venus and Primavera, survived.
The Wikipedia entry on Botticelli has images of some of his paintings and much more information. Apparently Botticelli is also the name of a guessing game.
One of my favorite blogs, The Third Eve, contains a detail from The Birth of Venus in its heading.
3 responses so far ↓
Eve // October 19, 2007 at 9:42 pm |
I like Boticelli, too. I keep meaning to analyze his painting because it has so many archetypal meanings and traditional medieval symbols (even though he was Renaissance, I think he borrowed several significant symbols for Birth of Venus).
Anyway… interesting that he burned some paintings. I didn’t know that. I wonder that he allowed Venus to survive… it is a bit revealing.
Famous Renaissance People « Significant Pursuit by Renaissance Guy // November 5, 2007 at 2:29 pm |
[...] Sandro Botticelli–Italian painter of the Birth of Venus [...]
David Bowman // March 22, 2008 at 11:46 am |
Perhaps you might be interested in the alternative interpretation of Botticelli’s the Birth of Venus and La Primavera:
Birth of Venus and La Primavera Conjoined
Best,
David Bowman