Alessandro Botticelli [antikvár]

Background and Training A tax retLtrn made by Mariano di Vanni Filipepi shows that his fourth son, Alessandro, was 13 years old in 1457. At chat time the Florentine year began on 25 March, and this means that Sandro, as he was called by his contemporaries, must have been born between March 1444 and March 1445 by the modern calendar. The Filipepi family, which apart from his mother Smeralda also included two sisters and three brothers, lived on the modest incomc earned by their father, who had worked in the Ognissanti district of Florence as a tanner since 1433. h was a district of the city moulded by the important Florentine clothworking trades. Sandro's nickname derived from the one given to his eldest brother Giovanni, who because of his corpulence was called 'II Botticello', or little barrel. From 1458 Giovanni is recorded as having worked as a broker. Filipepi's rise in social position appears to have been matched by an improvement in his financial circumstances. In 1464 the family was in a position to buy a house in what is now the Via della Porcellana, not far from the Ognissanti church. Here, apart from a few interruptions, Botticelli lived and worked until his death in 1510. In the immediate neighborhood lived the influential Vespucci merchant family, which produced the seafarer Amerigo (1454-1512), after whom the American continent was later to be named. The artist Botticelli painted for this family on several occasions. One of his undisputed masterpieces, the fresco with St. Augustine (ill. 43) in the Ognissanti church, was commissioned by them. Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574), the important biographer of the lives of the artists, whose "Vita di Botticelli" (1550/1564) is still the most extensive source of information about Botticelli, though one that needs to be read critically, reports that Sandro was at first apprenticed as a goldsmith before being placed, probably at the beginning of the 1460s, with Fra Filippo Lippi in order co study painting. At the time it was not unusual to make such changes in training. Andrea del Vcrrocchio (1435-1488) and Antonio del Pollaiuolo (ca. 1432-1498) were both Florentine painters and sculptors who started their artistic career as goldsmiths. These artists practised the important techniques associated with this crafr, such as engraving, enamelling and chasing, and their work showed a precise capturing of contours and sensitive use of decorative gold ornamentation. Both of these features are present throughout Botticelli's work and may be a direct result of his early experiences as a goldsmith. Following the death of Fra Angélico (ca. 1396-1455), Botticelli's teacher, the Carmelite monk Fra Filippo Lippi, was probably the most successful painter in Florence. He was, however, well-known for being a quarrelsome and eccentric person; he was taken to court for falsification of documents and had to answer to the charge of flouting the terms of his contracts by allowing students to work on his paintings. The peak of his potentially scandalous life was his love for the beautiful nun Lucrezia Buti. Their son Filippino (1457-1504) also became a painter and following his father's death worked in Botticelli's workshop. From 1452 onwards, Filippo Lippi worked mainly in the town of Praco, near Florence, where he painted the main chapel in the cathedral with scenes from the lives of St. Stephen and John the Baptist. After completion ofthe picture cycle in 1467, he was called to Spoleto in order CO decorate its choir chapel with frescoes. There is no indication chat Bocticelli followed his mascer co Spoleto. Ac this point he appears to have already finished his apprenticeship and to have scayed in Florence. 2 Unknown artist The View with the Chuin (alter (he copper engraving by Fr Ros.selli), ca. i486 Copper engraving Miisco tli Firen/e coin'cra, Florence This vedut;» ol Florence i.s one ofthe first viem in the modern .sense ofthe city on die banks of the Arno. Ai the center of che city is the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore with its large dome and the campanile, and to the right oCit the Palazzo ilella Signoria, the seat ol government, At the bottom left one can .see the church ot Sant.i Maria Novella, near which Botticelli lived and worked, with the exception ofa fcw joinneys, right up until his death.