Read complete books and articles on: Sandro Botticelli

Botticelli, Sandro - sänˈdrō bôtˌtĭchĕlˈlē, c.1444–1510, Florentine painter of the Renaissance, whose real name was Alessandro di Mariano Filipepiälĕssänˈdrō dē märēäˈnō fēlēpāˈpē. He was apprenticed to Fra Filippo Lippi, whose delicate coloring can be seen in such early works as the Adoration of the Kings (National Gall., London) and Chigi Madonna (Gardner Mus., Boston). Elements of the more vigorous style of Pollaiuolo and Verrocchio soon entered his paintings, e.g., Fortitude (Uffizi), St. Augustine (Ognissanti), and Portrait of a Young Man (Uffizi). He was one of the greatest colorists in Florence and a master of the rhythmic line. He became a favorite painter of the Medici, whose portraits he included, in addition to a self-portrait, among the splendid figures in the Adoration of the Magi (Uffizi). In 1481 Pope Sixtus IV asked him to help decorate the Sistine Chapel. After painting three biblical frescoes he returned to Florence, where he reached the height of his popularity. Through the Medici he came into contact with the Neoplatonic circle and was influenced by the ideas of Ficino and Poliziano. His mythological allegories, Spring, Birth of Venus, Mars and Venus, and Pallas Subduing a Centaur, allude, in general, to the triumph of love and reason over brutal instinct. Probably in the 1490s he drew the visionary illustrations for the Divine Comedy. He painted a set of frescoes for the Villa Tornabuoni (Louvre) and created a series of radiant Madonnas, including the Magnificat and the Madonna of the Pomegranate (Uffizi). From Alberti's description, he re-created the famous lost work of antiquity, The Calumny of Apelles. Religious passion is evident in the Nativity (National Gall., London), Last Communion of St. Jerome (Metropolitan Mus.) and Pietà (Fogg Mus., Cambridge). In the 19th cent. the Pre-Raphaelites rediscovered him. Supported by Ruskin, they admired what they considered to be the extreme refinement and poignancy of his conceptions.

See studies by H. P. Horne (1908), L. Venturi (1949, repr. 1961), G. C. Argan (tr. by J. Emmons, 1957), and L. D. and H. Ettlinger (1985).

Show Excerpt Only

14 of the Best Books and Articles on: Sandro Botticelli

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Botticelli: Biographical and Critical Study » Read Now
by Giulio Carlo Argan, James Emmons. 150 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
2.

Portraits and Masks in the Art of Lorenzo de' Medici, Botticelli, and Politian's 'Stanze per la Giostra,' in Renaissance Quarterly » Read Now
by Charles Dempsey. 42 pgs.

Collections: History, Literature, Entire Library

...masks in the art of Lorenzo de Medici, Botticelli, and Politians Stanze per la Giostra...banners earlier painted by Verrocchio and Botticelli for Lorenzos and Giulianos...
3.

The Italian Presence in American Art, 1860-1920 (Chap. 1 "Celebrating Botticelli: The Taste for the Italian Renaissance in the United States, 1870-1920") » Read Now
by Irma B. Jaffe. 270 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

Like a magic potion, Italianita has seeped through the stream of American aesthetic consciousness ever since Benjamin West stepped onto Italian soil in 1760. The first period of this artistic phenomenon was investigated in The Italian Presence in American Art, 1760-1860 and the book at hand thus...
Read More

Like a magic potion, Italianita has seeped through the stream of American aesthetic consciousness ever since Benjamin West stepped onto Italian soil in 1760. The first period of this artistic phenomenon was investigated in The Italian Presence in American Art, 1760-1860 and the book at hand thus continues this intellectual exploration in its development during the following sixty years. Those decades between the Civil War and World War I brought to a climax the growing sense of American continental nationhood, and this strengthened perception of national identity was reflected in American art. A synthesis was achieved in which American values and images were fused with the great tradition flowing from its Italian source. Among the themes that arise from this examination of the role that Italy played in shaping American art is first and foremost the struggle to resolve the issue of what American art ought to express: our European heritage or our cultural independence. This question penetrates to the heart of the most widely debated topic in present-day American culture - multiculturalism. The reader may well find previously unconsidered relationships between our past and present, and may be led to reconsider problems posed by the conflicting needs of unity and diversity in our nation. Other themes that appear in these essays deal with the development of American wealth and its role in influencing the taste of the period, and with feminism. In these pages it will be noticed how very closely American art mirrors the American Experience. While all art reflects the cultural context in which it is created, the nature of American art, predominantly Romantic-Realism, makes the link between idea and image particularly visible. What becomes evident is that "the Italian presence" was almost never a simple matter of direct influence; rather it was an experience for American artists that afforded them, above all, insight and inspiration. Italy was America's muse.
Show less
4.

Looking at Pictures ("Botticelli: The Nativity" begins on p. 179) » Read Now
by Kenneth Clark. 199 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...LAtelier du Peintre 167 BOTTICELLI The Nativity 179 REMBRANDT...Une Baignade 139 VI BOTTICELLI: Angel showing the Shepherds the Infant...from LAtelier 176 67 BOTTICELLI:...
5.

The Expanding Discourse: Feminism and Art History (Chap. 5 "Botticelli's Primavera: A Lesson for the Bride") » Read Now
by Norma Broude, Mary D. Garrard. 518 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
6.

The Eloquence of Symbols: Studies in Humanist Art (Chap. IV "The Subject of Botticelli's Derelitta") » Read Now
by Edgar Wind, Jaynie Anderson. 186 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

One of the most original art historians of the twentieth century, Edgar Wind (1900-1971) was the first Professor of the History of Art, University of Oxford. His astonishing familiarity with art and its history was allied with a knowledge of the ancient classics, of literature in several languages...
Read More

One of the most original art historians of the twentieth century, Edgar Wind (1900-1971) was the first Professor of the History of Art, University of Oxford. His astonishing familiarity with art and its history was allied with a knowledge of the ancient classics, of literature in several languages, and of philosophy and aesthetics. This first volume of his selected papers, published in 1983, is now reprinted in paperback for the first time with a revised and updated bibliography.
Show less
7.

Reflection and Self-Reflection: Narcissistic or Aesthetic Criticism?, in Texas Studies in Literature and Language » Read Now
by Jeffrey Wallen. 22 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

...self in Paters work. In his essay on Botticelli, Pater discusses a painting of the...unworthy alike of heaven and hell, Botticelli accepts, that middle world in...
8.

Estimates in Art (1916) (Chap. II "Sandro Botticelli") » Read Now
by Frank Jewett Mather Jr. 315 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...doing , 7 , 8 . SANDRO BOTTICELLI His recent rehabilitation...London 6 3. Botticelli, Detail from "Birth of Venus...Flor ence 32 4.Botticelli, "Madonna and Saints,"...
9.

The Lives of the Artists (Discussion of Sandro Botticelli begins on p. 224) » Read Now
by Julia Conaway Bondanella, Peter Bondanella, Giorgio Vasari. 598 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

These biographies of the great quattrocento artists have long been considered among the most important of contemporary sources on Italian Renaissance art. Vasari, who invented the term "Renaissance," was the first to outline the influential theory of Renaissance art that traces a progression through...
Read More

These biographies of the great quattrocento artists have long been considered among the most important of contemporary sources on Italian Renaissance art. Vasari, who invented the term "Renaissance," was the first to outline the influential theory of Renaissance art that traces a progression through Giotto, Brunelleschi, and finally the titanic figures of Michaelangelo, Da Vinci, and Raphael. This new translation, specially commissioned for the World's Classics series, contains thirty-six of the most important lives and is fully annotated.
Show less
10.

The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry (1912) ("Sandro Botticelli" begins on p. 50) » Read Now
by Walter Pater. 238 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

...MIRANDOLA 30 SANDRO BOTTICELLI 50 LUCA DELLA ROBBIA...have appeared in a painting by Sandro Botticelli or Piero di Cosimo, entered his chamber...expended time and zeal...
11.

A History of Italian Painting (1923) (Chap. V "Dawn of the Golden Age: Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci") » Read Now
by Frank Jewett Mather Jr. 495 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...REALISM 109 IV. FRA FILIPPO LIPPI AND THE NEW NARRATIVE STYLE 157 V. DAWN OF THE GOLDEN AGE: BOTTICELLI AND LEONARDO DA VINCI 201 VI. THE GOLDEN AGE: RAPHAEL AND...
12.

How to Study Pictures (1906) (Chap. V "Alessandro Botticelli, 1446-1510: Italian School of Florence") » Read Now
by Charles H. Caffin. 516 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...MADONNA ENTHRONED Alessandro Botticelli 58 VIRGIN ENTHRONED...century. CHAPTER V ALESSANDRO BOTTICELLI 1446-1510 Italian School of Florence...of which the older light was...
13.

The Art of John Updike's "A & P," in Studies in Short Fiction (Includes discussion of Botticelli's Venus) » Read Now
by Toni Saldivar. 12 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

...certainly not on Updikes, is to Sandro Botticellis fifteenth-century Neo-Platonic painting...gorgeous, and sad. For all its allegory, Botticellis Venus, in Ronald...
14.

Italian Renaissance Painting (Chap. 5 "The Second Generation: The Lyric Current") » Read Now
by James Beck. 484 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library