THE GREAT ONES
Sandro Botticelli
V.K. SUBRAMANIAN
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Sandro Botticelli's (1445 A.D. - 1510 A.D.) paintings are marked by unparalleled beauty of line and gentleness of colour.
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ILLUSTRATION: V.K. SUBRAMANIAN
Sandro Botticelli was one of the finest flowers of the Florentine Renaissance.
He was the precursor as also the contemporary of the Renaissance giants: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian and Raphael. Though the latter overpowered his reputation in his lifetime the masterly paintings of Sandro Botticelli, marked by unparalleled beauty of line, gentleness of colour, and strong, sweet serenity continue to enchant the world.
His real name was Alessandro Di Mariano Di Vanni Filipepi. The term "Botticelli" means "The Little Barrel" and the name got attached to him probably from the goldsmith Botticelli to whom he was first apprenticed for learning the three Rs.
Masterpieces
Sandro Botticelli was born at Florence in 1445, the son of a tanner. At the age of 16, he began to study painting from the artist Fra Filippo Lippi.
In 1465, at the age of 20, Botticelli set up his own studio. He soon got the patronage of the rulers of Florence, the Medici. Three generations of the Medici: Piero, Lorenzo and Guiliani patronised him. And during the next 15 years he produced his masterpieces, including the immortal "Birth of Venus", which he painted in 1480.
In 1481, the Pope Sixtus IV summoned Botticelli to Rome to paint three frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. After four years he returned to Florence and his paintings began to be influenced by the teachings of Savonarola, the Christian reformer. He illustrated Dante's Divine Comedy and painted "Calumny". He died on May 17, 1510 A.D.
Botticelli's most famous paintings (in the Uffuzu Gallery, Florence) are the "Birth of Venus" and "La Primavera" (Springtime). These two alone are enough to entitle him to all-time greatness.
This is an extract from the book The Great Ones by V.K. Subramanian, Abhinav Publications, New Delhi
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