Botticelli was a practical joker- so says Vasari, the 16th century art historian, writing 50 years after the artist's death. He was also an artist whose works represent nowadays the ultimate in beauty and grace. His real name was Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi (1444/5 - 1510), but he is better known as Sandro Botticelli.
The above painting is considered to be one of his first independent works, executed in the early 1480s when he was still under the tutelage of Fra Filippo Lippi. Sandro showed his independence in choosing to paint a full length virgin Mary. The tenderness he had assimilated from Brother Lippi stayed with him to the end of his life. The vibrant colours are his own. Botticelli's expertise as draughtsman is apparent throughout his work; his early training was in a goldsmith's workshop where he developed his flowing linear style.
The exhibition points out how influential Sandro Botticelli was in his day- an artist later eclipsed by such talents as Leonardo, Raphael or Michelangelo. It also illustrates the different facets of Botticelli's workshop.
Brother Lippi's subjects were religious; he specialised in madonnas and child. Lippi's pupil Sandro followed his example. The exhibition allows us to compare and contrast the work of master and pupil:
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| Filippo Lippi ca1460/65 Virgin and child (Munich) |
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| Botticelli 1465-1470 Virgin and child (Louvre) |
From Botticelli's tender beginnings, there is quite a marked change towards the end of his life during the period when Savonorola, preaching fire and brimstone, was the authority of Florence. His works become more sober and austere. The artist felt obliged to commit some of his works to the flames of the 'Vanity' bonfires, so the legend goes, although not everyone believes this is true. Many details of Botticelli's life remain a mystery. In his later work, Boticelli's female figures are still gracefully elongated, with the characteristic rounded belly, but his Judith carrying the head of Holophernes, in the exhibitiion, is dramatic and severe. The shapes are simplified and the work is less decorative:
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| Botticelli: Judith holding the head of Holophernes late 1490s (Amsterdam) |
The exhibition follows the chronology of Sandro Botticelli's career from the 1460s to the 1490s.
In his day, the work of an artist was always a combined effort- assistants would perform a series of tasks: preparing the wooden surface, transferring the original drawing, painting the background scenery or even the minor figures. Botticelli's studio was a very busy one, with designs provided by the master for various applied arts.
A bishop's chasuble, a tapestry portraying Minerva, goddess of wisdom, warfare and the arts, and some impressive wooden inlaid doors from the ducal palace in Urbino (here in facsimile) demonstrate that the artist's creations were used by different specialist artisans:
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| Chasuble of embroidered silk with gold thread (Florence) |
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| Tapestry, French manufacture: Minerva |
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| Palace doors, Urbino (facsimile) showing Apollo (workshop of Benedetto da Maiano) |
One of the 'jewels' of the exhibition is the bewitching allegorical portrait of Simonetta Vespucci.
She is shown in cameo-style against a black background, like the cameo she is wearing. Simonetta was a celebrated beauty in her time and friend of Giuliano de' Medici, co-ruler of Florence along with his brother Lorenzo the Magnificent. Simonetta died aged only 22, probably of tuberculosis, and was mourned by all the citizens of Florence. It was to Simonetta that Giuliano dedicated his jousting victory in 1475 and Botticelli designed a banner for him. Botticelli's portrait, painted after Simonetta's death, idealizes her and possibly associates her with Minerva. She possesses the calm detached melancholy of many of the artist's female faces.
Beside the tempera portrait is a delicate drawing of Simonetta:
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| Study of a woman, presumed Simonetta, attributed to Botticelli (detail) |
Two Botticelli drawings illustrating Dante's Divine Comedy are on show. A whole set of such illustrations by Botticelli has gone missing over the years. Vasari writes of Botticelli's continued interest in Dante's text, a favourite of humanist scholars in the Medicis' circle.
Botticelli's talents were called on in 1481-2 by Pope Sixtus to help decorate his Sistine chapel and paint several portraits of previous popes. Of course one has to visit the Vatican to see these frescos. However Botticelli's skill as portrait artist is evident here in two oil and tempera works.
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| Botticelli Portrait of Giuliano de' Medici ca 1478-1480 |
By the time Botticelli did this portrait Giuliano had been assassinated in the Pazzi conspiracy of 1478.
A second portrait, done from life, is remarkably strong:
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| Portrait of Michele Marullo Tarcaniota (1490-1500) |
The subject was Greek-born poet and soldier Tarcaniota. The work caused a stir in 2019 by almost being sold for $30 million, before being prevented from leaving Spanish territory. It is a masterly portrait - creating a sense of volume, rivalling the sculptured busts which were popular in 15th century Florence. The background is neutral and the sitter is shown in a three-quarter pose, both innovations borrowed from Flemish artists.
Botticelli was not only a remarkable portrait painter- he was a talented illustrator. He had the reputation of being able tell a story perfectly in painting. As 'capobottega' (master of the studio) he would create the compositions and then his assistants would transfer his drawings onto the surface of, for example, cassone (wedding chests). Sandro worked in close collaboration with his most gifted assistant Filipino Lippi, son of his former master, on the story of Esther:
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| The arrival of Esther at the citadel of Susa |
Other illustrative works include the Judgement of Paris, the shepherd who was asked to decide between Juno, Minerva and Venus and award the winner the golden apple. He chose Venus - a fateful decision which subsequently led to the Trojan war:
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| Venus receiving the golden apple (detail) |
A rare exhibit is the illustration of Plutarch's "Triumph of Love", for which Botticelli did the pen and ink drawings (although the colour was added later by someone else):
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| Illustration for the Triumph of Love by Petrarch. 1470-1473 |
Botticelli's workshop would store models to be reproduced by the master and his assistants, similar to a production line, always supervised by the capo. For clients who were richer, more gold might be used. A highpoint of the exhibition is the juxtaposition of the two Venuses from Turin and Berlin. Similar but different. Both enticingly beautiful.
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| The Berlin Venus, with veil, no gold |
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| The Turin Venus, naked, with gold in her hair. |
Both are on the same model as Botticelli's very famous Venus, held in the Uffizi gallery in Florence:
Botticelli's Venuses refer back to an antique statue of the 'Venus Pudica' (modest Venus).
The following work may be seen permanently in the Musée Jacquemart André. (unless lent out of course) Both donkey and Joseph look rather grumpy, but Mary clasps baby Jesus tenderly.
It may have been produced entirely by Botticelli's assistants after the master's death.
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| Botticelli's workshop: The Flight to Egypt ca 1505-1510 |
The exhibition lasts until January 24th, 2022, at the Musée Jacquemart André,
158 boulevard Haussmann.
Open daily from 10am to 6pm. Late night opening on Mondays until 8.30pm.
Best to reserve, early in the day, preferably, to avoid crowds.
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