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| Sandro Botticelli |
Sandro Botticelli (1444-1510), whom the great biographer Giorgio Vasari referred to as "Botticello," attained a style we've come to recognize as all his own. But that's a disservice to his teacher, Fra Filippo Lippi (1406-1469), who is now less well remembered.
Botticelli was apprenticed to Fra Filippo Lippi while still a restless young boy. Fra Filippo Lippi became very fond of his apprentice because Sandro threw himself into learning and imitated the master closely. And if we make some comparisons, we can see that works by the mature Botticelli retain the influence of his master.
Above are two Madonnas, on the left by Fra Filippo Lippi, and on the right by Botticelli. A trademark of both artists is that they tended to define flesh in soft gradations, somewhat denying skeletal underpinnings. Features were often outlined, and we can see that especially in their treatment of hands.
At the top are hands by Fra Filippo Lippo, and below are hands by Botticelli. You're not very conscious of knuckles in these, and you'll notice that both artists extended the length of the fingers. Such lengthened features made Botticelli's women particularly graceful, and it's no mistake that when we think of Botticelli, we are bound to think of Venus rising from the water.
Botticelli is also remembered for his exquisite delineation of hair, and here again, one has only to look to his master to see the influence. On the left, hair by Fra Filippo Lippi, and on the right, by Botticelli.
Botticelli of course established his own studio, and went on to work for Pope Sixtus IV and the great Lorenzo de Medici. If we look at what I would consider to be Fra Filippo Lippi's masterpiece, The Adoration of the Magi, it looks quite different from anything by his pupil.
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According to Vasari, Botticelli was generous to other artists, and was famous for his practical jokes. Unfortunately, he became a follower of the priest Girolamo Savonarola, and according to Vasari, even destroyed some of his own work in the infamous Bonfire of the Vanities. Botticelli, having given up painting, died destitute.
Again Mark how fascinating! I have always been a fan of Boticelli, and have never even thought toi compare his work with another as I thought he was in a realm of his own! Destitute huh? It seems they all go this way!
ReplyDeleteHi, David - I was reading a biography of Leonardo da Vinci not too long ago, and was intrigued to discover that he died with a number of parcels of land. I believe Michelangelo died wealthy, though he lived, of his own choosing, in a rather miserable state.
ReplyDeleteHello Mark, Love these images, so expertly painted. I wonder if women were really this beautiful so long ago. Would like to think so.
ReplyDeleteHello, Gina - So would I. I've often wondered how often the subjects of different Botticelli paintings were portrayed by the same model.
ReplyDeleteMark such glorious paintings and I love the comparisons of the teacher and apprentice. It does break my heart to think of Botticelli dying destitute, when he lived with such a gift!
ReplyDeletexoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
Hi, Karena - The time of Savonarola was a very dark period for Florence, with much beauty destroyed. Wouldn't it be fun to be able to go back in time (unscathed) and save all the art that was burned?!
ReplyDeleteHello Mark,
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you are familiar with it, but I've been following the tv series The Borgias this season and the role of Lucrezia is played by this Botticelliesque beauty named Holliday Grainger.
Absolutely gorgeous! Enjoyed your post, as usual.
Anyes
XX
Hi, Anyes - Believe it or not, there is no TV in my house! I have Googled Holliday Grainger's images, and would certainly agree with you that she (as a blonde) could easily step out of a Botticelli painting.
ReplyDeleteA really interesting post Mark. Fra Filippo Lippi's reputation probably has not done him any favours, being a reluctant friar, who had an affair with a nun, who bore his son Fillippino and daughter Alexandra. At least they were released from their vows and allow to marry.
ReplyDeleteWhen we visit Italy we often remark how often you see a girl that could be from a Botticelli painting.
A perceptive and informative essay. Botticelli's flowers are always especially fascinating. I just posted Maginel Wright Barney's "Queen Anne's Lace Meadow" and she seems to get the same effect of floating, scattered flowers, although her technique is so different.
ReplyDelete--Road to Parnassus
thanks for posting from the angle of art history...the story behind the story is always intriguing!
ReplyDeleteHello, Rosemary - It sounds as though you are more knowledgeable of Fra Filippo Lippi than I. I have read that by the age of two, Fra Filippo Lippi was orphaned, and that he was raised for six more years by an aunt, and then placed in the convent of the Carmine to be a friar at the age of eight. So I will play the Devil's Advocate and say that an eight-year-old in a convent is probably more than a reluctant friar! Could it be that the nun had a similar history? Rosemary, we need to write a grant and study this further. And of course that will entail an extensive trip to Florence!
ReplyDeleteHello, Panassus - There are parts of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. that I've probably missed because I always start in the Renaissance galleries and then have little time for all the rest. I suppose my attraction is that so much care was given to every little detail in those paintings. If one were to crop a Botticelli painting, for example, and just show the foreground flowers, that too would be a masterpiece. The entire world gets recreated in such art; it's no wonder the time is called ... the Renaissance!
ReplyDeleteHi, Theresa - I love reading the history of Florence in the time of the Lorenzo de Medici. It's amazing to realize that those masters were contemporaries and knew each other, and it makes me suppose that they were all caught up in a crative vortex.
ReplyDeleteDear Mark - you are right he was an orphan so not a friar by choice. He was a chaplain in Prato where he met Lucrezia, the beautiful daughter of a Florentine named Francesco Buti. She was a novice placed under the nuns' guardianship, and he asked that she might be allowed to sit for the figure of the Madonna. He abducted her to his house, and kept her there despite the nuns' efforts to reclaim her.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful little art history lesson and sad ending for a true talent!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the additional (interesting) information. Well, now I see what you mean by your initial comment!! Other unsavory artists come to mind, and I do believe that justice was often bent by patrons who still wanted pretty pictures!
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be interesting if Lucrezia portrayed the Madonna in this posting?
ReplyDeleteHi, Stacey (these three comments of mine are not in order)!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked a little art history lesson, and yes, it's too bad that Botticelli ended up destitute. I don't know how sad it really was though, because Lorenzo the Magnificent gave him some money (Lorenzo the Munificent?).
What a lovely post. I enjoyed your visual and descriptive comparisons. Cropping a painting to show specific details, as you have done here, allows them to be appreciated without the beautiful “distraction” of the rest of the masterpiece. Imagine how delightful it would be to have a small painting of just one Botticelli flower. I would like to see such a detail to understand how Botticelli perceived a flower…perhaps he elongated, or simplified it. Perhaps he thought they were perfect and painted them in a botanically accurate manner.
ReplyDeleteDid you create the portrait at the beginning of the article? It is fantastic and it would be so beautiful as a silk screened canvas in a modern room to give some depth, history and character, in a very new way.
Your own feelings and analysis of each painter’s style makes your writing interesting and personal. For the same reason, I’ve always enjoyed Art History with Sister Wendy and Kenneth Clark. Thank you.
Hi, Terry - Yes, I created the Botticelli portrait at the beginning of the article. I did it by manipulating a painting detail in the Adobe program PhotoShop. It almost has the look of a tapestry design, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your nice comment — I always enjoyed the commentaries of that urbane Kenneth Clark.