Unique style and technique of Sandro Botticelli - Research Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages... All the aesthetics of the Italian Renaissance reached its highest stage of development by the end of the 15th century in the works of the eminent Florentine school artists - Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti. Their works masterly show the two sides of our existence - spirituality and humanity; subtle excellence of works of the High Renaissance places emphasis on the interrelationship of personal world and objective reality. Botticelli worked mostly with the subjects drawn from the Bible, frequently from the New Testament and classical antique mythology.It seems, at first glance, that he was concerned with purely religious or mythological subjects – the subjects artists used to turn to centuries ago. But it’s just enough to look at his Renaissance Madonnas to realize that there is nothing in common between them and the Virgin and Child on icons. The sacred theme appears just as a secular portrait of a young woman whose name is even known. What is this? Broadness? Sacrilege? The life journey of Sandro Botticelli, his unique style and technique, will be examined through the example of his timeless works of art in this paper. Giorgio Vasari, an Italian painter of the 16th century, an outstanding biographer of many Italian artists, begins the biography of Sandro Botticelli saying that at the time of Lorenzo de Medici the Magnificent, which truly was the golden age for every gifted man, reached his peak the creative work of Alessandro, named between us as Sandro, nicknamed Botticelli. Botticelli was one of the most prominent figures of the blessed era associated with the name of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Like most of the titans of the Renaissance he was of humble origin. His success was in his energy, will, intelligence and talent. All this plus rare charm and tact helped the son of a tanner to enter the very select circle of cultural and artistic elite of Europe. He was born in Florence in 1445. His real name was Alessandro Filipepi. He was the youngest of four sons of Mariano Filipepi and his wife Esmeralda. The first mention of Alessandro, as well as of the other Florentine artists, we find in the “portate al Catasto”- a kind of register of incomes for taxation which was kept in accordance with the decree of the Republic. So, in 1458, Mariano Filipepi stated that he had four sons - Giovanni, Antonio, Simon and thirteen years old Sandro and added that Sandro was learning to read and the boy was sickly. Jewelry became the turning point in the development of the young Botticelli. Alessandro was sent by his father, tired of his extravagant restless mind, to learn the skill of jewelry. According to Vasari, there was a close relationship between jewelers and painters at that time. To work in a workshop of the first meant to get direct access to the craft of the latter. Sandro became skilled in drawing, which was necessary for accurate and confident black finish. Soon he became interested in painting and decided to devote his life to it. He never forgets the valuable lessons of jewelry - precision in drawing of contour lines and skillful use of gold (he often uses it as an additive for paint or for the background, in pure form). In 1464 Sandro joined the school of the excellent painter, Fra Filippo Lippi, the Carmelite, from the Monastery of Santa Maria del Carmine. Lippi’s workshop was then in Prato, where the artist worked until 1466 on the frescoes of the Cathedral. In 1465 Filippo painted his Madonna and Child Enthroned with Two Angels. It became the indisputable pattern of composition and style for many early works by Botticelli, like Madonna and Child with an Angel and Madonna della Loggia. Even the earliest works by Sandro are distinguished by a special, almost imperceptible, atmosphere of spirituality and poetry of images - for Botticelli painting tended towards the poetic not simply because of its lyrical ...Download file to see next pagesRead More