Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510)




Sandro Botticelli was born in Florence, Italy. In the beginning of his career, he achieved immediate success and fame throughout Italy. Botticelli was influenced by Fra Filippo Lippi, who taught him to draw outlines and create the effect of transparency. With his help, he became skilled enough to create portraits for the Medici family. Most of Sandro's paintings were religious in tone. Examples are Madonna, the Child with Two Saints and the Coronation of the Virgin.

Like Michelangelo, Botticelli was hired to paint the walls of the Sistine Chapel. He designed three different scenes. Later in life, he had a 'religious crisis' due to the influence of a priest called Savonarola. Thus his paintings grew more religious and less mythical. After his death in 1510, Botticelli was rediscovered during the Pre-Raphaelite movement some three hundred years later. He was most admired for his graceful line work. Another posthumous achievement was presented to him when a room at the Uffizi was named in his honor.

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