All Botticelli paintings with titles. Sandro Botticelli – biography and paintings of the artist in the Early Renaissance genre – Art Challenge

The future artist lived and was raised in a patriarchal, deeply religious family,
which left an imprint on his entire subsequent life.

Altar of St. Barnabas

Madonna with a book

Madonna and Child (of the Magnificat) 1480-1481, tempera on panel gallery
Uffizi, Florence, Italy

The early Madonnas radiate an enlightened meekness generated by the harmony of feelings.

Madonna with Pomegranate (Madonna della Melagrana) 1487g, tempera on panel,
Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

Madonna and Child and 8 Angels 1478, tempera on panel,
State Capital Museum, Berlin, Germany

Madonna under the canopy (del Padiglione) 1493g, tempera on panel,
Pinacoteca Ambrosiano, Milan, Italy

Madonna and Child and Angel 1465-67, tempera on panel,
Gallery of the Orphanage (dello Spedale degli Innocenti), Florence, Italy

Madonna and Child and Angel 1468,
tempera on panel, Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, California, USA

Madonna of the Sea 1470-75, tempera on panel,
Gallery of the Academy (dell "Accademia), Florence, Italy

Madonna in the Rose Garden (Madonna Rosengarden) 1469-1470,
tempera on wood, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

Madonna and Child and Angel Madonna of the Communion (Eucharist or Chigi Madonna)1470,
tempera on panel, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, USA

Madonna and Child, two angels and young John the Baptist 1465-1470,
tempera on panel, Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence, Italy

Madonna and Child and two angels 1469-70, tempera on panel,
Capodimonte Museum, Naples, Italy

Madonna and Child with John the Baptist 1470-1475, tempera on panel,
Louvre, Paris, France "Madonna and Child and John the Baptist"
refers to the heyday of creativity, the time when the artist worked at the court of the powerful Medici family.
The painting was painted between the 70-75s of the 15th century.
In this work, everything radiates an enlightened meekness, generated by the harmony of feeling and design.

Madonna and Child surrounded by five angels 1470, tempera on panel, Louvre, Paris, France
This early painting shows the strong influence of Filippo Lippi (1406-1469),
with whom Botticelli studied

Madonna with a Book (Madonna Libro) 1483, tempera on panel, Poldi Pezzoli Museum, Milan, Italy

Madonna and Child with John the Baptist c.1490-1495, tempera on canvas Palatina Gallery (Pitti Palace), Florence, Italy

Adoration of the Child 1480-1490, tempera on panel, National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA

Madonna of the Sea
Academic Gallery. Florence.

In the images of later Madonnas, created under the influence of Savonarola’s ascetic sermons, the sad and disappointed artist moves away from the desire to find the embodiment of eternal beauty. The Madonna's face in his paintings becomes bloodless and pale, her eyes full of tears. These faces can still be compared with medieval images of the Mother of God, but they do not have the solemn grandeur of the Queen of Heaven. Rather, these are women of modern times who have experienced and experienced a lot.

Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) is one of the most outstanding Florentine artists who worked during the Early Renaissance. The nickname Botticelli, which translated into Russian means barrel, originally belonged to the artist’s older brother Giovanni, who had a large physique. The real name of the painter is Alessandro Filipepi.

Childhood, adolescence and learning skills

Botticelli was born into a tanner's family. The first mention of him was discovered 13 years after the birth of the boy, in 1458. Young Botticelli was an extremely sick child, but made every effort to learn to read. Around the same period, Sandro began working part-time in the workshop of his other brother Antonio.

Botticelli was not destined to engage in the craft, and he realized this after some time as an apprentice. In the early 60s of the 15th century, Sandro began studying with one of the greatest artists of that era, Fra Filippo Lippi. The master's style affected the young Botticelli, which later manifested itself in the artist's early works.

Already in 1467, the young Florentine artist opened a workshop, and among his first works were “Madonna with Children and Two Angels”, “Madonna of the Eucharist” and some other paintings.

The beginning of an independent creative path

Sandro completed his first project already in 1470, and his work was intended for the courtroom. Things went very well for Botticelli, and he soon became a sought-after master, whose fame gradually began to reach the royal palace.

Botticelli created his first masterpiece in 1475. It was a painting called “The Adoration of the Magi.” The customer was a fairly wealthy and influential banker with connections to the then rulers of the city, with whom he introduced the talented guy. Since then, the creator was close to the ruling Medici family and carried out orders specifically for them. The main works of this period can be called the paintings “Spring” and “Birth of Venus”.

Invitation to Rome and peak of glory

Rumors about the young but very talented artist quickly spread all the way to Rome, where Pope Sixtus IV called him in the early 80s. Botticelli was commissioned, in collaboration with other famous personalities of his time, to design the newly erected structure, known to this day - the Sistine Chapel. Sandro took part in the creation of several famous frescoes, including “The Youth of Moses” and “The Temptation of Christ.”

The very next year, Botticelli returned to his native Florence, the likely reason for which was the death of his father. Although at the same time he was literally overloaded with orders in his hometown.

In the mid-80s of the 15th century, Botticelli was at the peak of his fame: there were so many orders that the artist simply did not have time to paint all the paintings on his own. Most of the work was carried out by the students of the outstanding creator, and Botticelli himself was engaged only in creating the most complex elements of the compositions. Among the artist’s most famous works, which he created in the 80s, are “The Annunciation”, “Venus and Mars” and “Magnificat Madonna”.

Later creativity

Serious trials in life befell the creator in the 90s, when he lost his beloved brother, from whom he received such a funny nickname. A little later, the artist began to doubt whether all his activities were justified.

All this coincided with extremely important events that led to the overthrow of the Medici dynasty. Savonarola came to power, fiercely criticizing the wastefulness and corruption of the previous rulers. He was also dissatisfied with the papacy. The power of this ruler was ensured by popular support, Botticelli also went over to his side, but Savonarola’s rule did not last long: after just a few years he was overthrown from the throne and burned alive at the stake.

The sad events deeply wounded the painter. Many at that time said that Botticelli was one of the “converts,” as could be judged by the creator’s latest works. It was this decade that became decisive in the artist’s life.

Last years of life and death

In the last 10-12 years of his life, the fame of the great painter began to gradually fade away and Botticelli could only remember his former popularity. Contemporaries who saw him in the last years of his life wrote about him that he was completely poor, walked on crutches and no one cared the slightest about him. Botticelli's last works, which included The Mystical Nativity from 1500, were not popular, and no one approached him about commissioning new paintings. Another indicative case was when the then queen, when choosing artists to fulfill her order, in every possible way rejected Botticelli’s proposals.

The once famous painter died in 1510, completely alone and poor. He was buried in a cemetery near one of the Florentine churches. Along with the creator himself, the fame of him completely died, which was revived only in the final decades of the 19th century.

There are several paintings that people associate with the Renaissance. These paintings are world famous and have become real symbols of that time. To paint most of the paintings, artists invited people whose names have not reached us as sitters. They simply looked like the characters the artist needed and that’s all. And therefore, no matter how interested we are in their fate, now practically nothing is known about them.

Sandro Botticelli and his "Venus", Simonetta Vespucci

An example of this is the famous painting by Michelangelo that adorns the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, “The Creation of Adam,” or the creation of the same author, the statue of David. Now it is no longer known who served as the model for the creation of these works.

The same is with the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci “Mona Lisa”. There are now many rumors that the subject of the painting was Lisa Gherardini, but there is more doubt than certainty about this version. And the very mystery of the picture is more likely connected with the personality of Leonard da Vinci rather than with his model.

However, against the background of all this uncertainty, the history of the creation of the famous painting by Sandro Botticelli “The Birth of Venus” and the model that served as the prototype of Venus is quite clear. She was Simonetta Vespucci, a universally recognized beauty of that era. Unfortunately, the painting was not painted from life, because by that time Botticelli’s muse was already dead.

Botticelli was born in Florence and all his life he was patronized by the most influential family in the city at that time - the Medici. Simonetta also lived in the same city, her maiden name was Cattaneo, she was the daughter of a Genoese nobleman. Simonetta, at the age of sixteen, married Marco Vespucci, who fell madly in love with her and was well received by her parents.

All the men in the city went crazy with Simonetta's beauty and kind character, even the brothers Giuliano and Lorenzo de' Medici fell under her charm. Simonetta was proposed by the Vespucci family itself as a model for the artist Sandro Botticelli. For Botticelli this became a fatal meeting, he fell in love with his model at first sight, she became his muse. At the same time, at the knightly tournament held in 1475, Giuliano de' Medici performed with a flag on which Botticelli's hand also depicted a portrait of Simonetta with an inscription in French meaning "Incomparable." After his victory in this tournament, Simonetta was declared the "Queen of Beauty", and her fame as the most beautiful woman in Florence spread throughout Europe.

And as mentioned above, unfortunately Simonetta died soon after, in 1476 at the age of only 23, presumably from tuberculosis. Botticelli was never able to forget her and lived alone all his life; he died in 1510.

Without a doubt, the artist respected Simonetta's marriage and did not show his love in any way, except by painting many paintings with her image. Thus, in the famous canvas “Venus and Mars,” he depicted heroes whose resemblance to Simonetta and the author himself in the role of Mars is not questioned by anyone.

And in 1485, Botticelli painted the famous painting “The Birth of Venus,” which he dedicated to the memory of his beloved, nine years after her death. Botticelli's love was so great that he asked to be buried in the tomb where Simonetta Vespucci was buried, “at the feet” of her burial.

It is known that Botticelli wrote more than 150 works, but most of them were destroyed by representatives of the Catholic Church, who accused the works of paganism and secularism. The Birth of Venus was miraculously saved, rumored to have been protected by Lorenzo de' Medici in memory of his brother and love for Simonetta.

Sandro Botticelli is an outstanding representative of Florentine painting of the Quattrocento era. After his death, the master went into oblivion. This continued until the middle of the 19th century, when the public regained interest in his work and biography. The name Sandro Botticelli is one of the first that comes to mind for both ordinary people and specialists when it comes to the art of the early Renaissance.

Childhood and youth

An interesting fact that not everyone knows: Botticelli is not the artist’s real name. As a child, his name was Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi. On March 1, 1445, the youngest son, Sandro, was born into the family of the Florentine tanner Mariano. In addition to him, his parents had three older sons: Giovanni and Simone, who devoted themselves to trade, and Antonio, who chose jewelry craft.

There is no consensus on the origin of the painter's surname. The first theory connects Botticelli's nickname with the trading activities of the artist's two older brothers (“botticelle” translates as barrel). Supporters of another theory also believe that Sandro got the nickname from his brother Giovanni, but for a different reason: he was a fat man. Other researchers claim that the new surname passed to Botticelli from another brother, Antonio (“battigello” - “silversmith”).

In his youth, Sandro was a jeweler's apprentice for 2 years. But in 1462 (or in 1464 - the opinions of researchers differ) he entered the art workshop of Fra Filippo Lippi. When the latter left Florence in 1467, Andrea Verrocchio became the mentor of the future genius. By the way, he studied in Verrocchio’s workshop at the same time as Botticelli. Two years later, in 1469, Sandro began independent work.

Painting

The exact dates of painting of most of the artist’s paintings are not known. Experts have determined approximate dates based on stylistic analysis. The work that went down in history as the first and entirely by Botticelli is “Allegory of Power.” Written in 1470, it was intended for the hall of the Florentine Commercial Court. Now it is an exhibit of the Uffizi Gallery.

The artist's first independent works also include numerous images. The most famous is the Madonna of the Eucharist, painted around 1470. During the same period, Botticelli opened his own workshop. The son of his former mentor, Filippino Lippi, becomes Sandro's student.

After 1470, the features of the master’s style became more and more apparent: a bright palette, rendering of skin tones using rich ocher shadows. Botticelli's achievement as a painter is the ability to vividly and succinctly reveal the drama of a plot, endowing images with expression, feelings and movement. This was clearly manifested already in the early (1470-1472) diptych about the Old Testament feat that beheaded the Assyrian invader Holofernes.

Botticelli's first depiction of a nude body is the painting “Saint Sebastian”. On the day of the holy martyr, January 20, 1474, she was solemnly presented to the inhabitants of the city. The vertical canvas was hung on a column of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore.

In the mid-1470s, Sandro turned to the portrait genre of fine art. During this period, the “Portrait of an Unknown Man with a Cosimo de’ Medici Medal” appeared. It is not known for certain who the young man depicted in the painting of 1474-1475 was. There is an assumption that this is a self-portrait. Some researchers believe that the artist’s model was Antonio’s brother, others believe that the painting depicts the author of the medal himself or a representative of the Medici family.

The painter became close to this powerful Florentine family and their entourage in the 70s. On January 28, 1475, Giuliano Medici, brother of the head of the Florentine Republic, participated in a tournament with a standard, the painting of which was worked by Botticelli. Around 1478, the artist painted a portrait of Giuliano himself.

On the famous canvas “The Adoration of the Magi” the Medici family is depicted almost in full force along with their retinue. Botticelli was also part of it, whose figure can be seen in the right corner.

On April 26, 1478, as a result of a failed conspiracy against the Medici, Giuliano was killed. Commissioned by the surviving Lorenzo, the artist painted a fresco above the gate leading to the Palazzo Vecchio. Botticelli's depiction of the hanged conspirators did not last even 20 years. After the expulsion of the less fortunate ruler Piero de' Medici from Florence, it was destroyed.

By the end of the 1470s, the painter became popular outside of Tuscany. Pope Sixtus IV wished to see Sandro in charge of painting the walls of the newly built chapel. In 1481, Botticelli arrived in Rome and, together with other artists, began work on frescoes. He painted three, including “The Temptation of Christ,” as well as 11 portraits of popes. In 30 years, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel will be painted, and it will become famous throughout the world.

After returning from the Vatican, in the first half of the 1480s, Botticelli created his main masterpieces. They are inspired by ancient culture and the philosophy of humanists, followers of Neoplatonism, with whom the artist became close during that period. “Spring,” written in 1482, is the author’s most mysterious work, which still does not have a clear interpretation. It is believed that the artist created the painting inspired by the poem “On the Nature of Things” by Lucretius, namely the passage:

“Here comes Spring, and Venus is coming, and Venus is winged

The messenger is coming ahead, and, after Zephyr, in front of them

Flora the Mother walks and, scattering flowers along the path,

Fills everything with colors and a sweet smell...

The winds, goddess, run before you; with your approach

The clouds are leaving the heavens, the earth is a lush master

A flower carpet is spreading, the sea waves are smiling,

And the azure sky shines with spilled light"

This painting, like two other pearls of this period - the canvases “Pallas and the Centaur” and “The Birth of Venus”, was owned by Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco Medici, the second cousin of the Duke of Florence. Characterizing these three works, researchers note the melodiousness and plasticity of the lines, the musicality of color, the sense of rhythm and harmony, expressed in subtle nuances.

In the late 1470s and early 1480s, Botticelli worked on illustrations for The Divine Comedy. Few of the series of pen drawings on parchment have survived, among them “The Abyss of Hell.” Among the works on a religious theme of this period, the Madonna and Child Enthroned (1484), the Annunciation of Cestello (1484-1490), the Madonna Magnificat tondo (1481-1485) and the Madonna with a Pomegranate (c. 1487) are distinguished. .

In the years 1490-1500, Botticelli was influenced by the teachings of the Dominican monk Girolamo Savonarola, who criticized the church orders of the time and the excesses of secular life. Imbued with calls for asceticism and repentance, Sandro began to use darker and more restrained shades.

Landscapes and interior elements disappeared from portrait backgrounds, as can be seen in the “Portrait of Dante” (c. 1495). Painted around 1490, “Judith Leaving the Tent of Holofernes” and “Lamentation of Christ” are typical works of the painter for that time.

Savonarola's accusation of heresy and execution in 1498, and even earlier, the death of Lorenzo de' Medici and the subsequent political unrest in Tuscany, shocked Botticelli. Mysticism and gloominess have increased in creativity. “The Mystical Nativity” of 1500 is the main monument of this period and the last significant work of the artist.

Personal life

Little is known about Botticelli's personal life. The artist did not have a wife or children. A number of researchers believe that Sandro was in love with Simonetta Vespucci, the first beauty of Florence and the lady of the heart of Giuliano Medici.

She served as a model for many of the artist’s paintings. Simonetta died in 1476 at the age of 23.

Death

In the last 4.5 years of his life, Botticelli did not write and lived in poverty. The great master of the Quattrocento era was buried in the cemetery of the Florentine church of Ognisanti on May 17, 1510.

Works

• OK. 1470 - "Allegory of Power"
• OK. 1470 - "Adoration of the Magi"
• c.1470 - “Madonna of the Eucharist”
• 1474 - “Saint Sebastian”
• 1474-1475 - “Portrait of an unknown person with a medal of Cosimo de’ Medici”
• OK. 1475 - “Portrait of Giuliano de’ Medici”
• 1481-1485 - “Madonna Magnificat”
• OK. 1482 - "Spring"
• 1482-1483 - “Pallas and Centaur”
• OK. 1485 - "Venus and Mars"
• OK. 1485 - "Birth of Venus"
• OK. 1487 - “Madonna of the Pomegranate”
• OK. 1490 - “Lamentation of Christ”
• OK. 1495 - "Slander"
• OK. 1495 - “Portrait of Dante”
• 1495-1500 - “Judith leaving the tent of Holofernes”
• 1500 - "Mystical Christmas"

Botticelli Sandro [actually Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi] (1445, Florence - May 17, 1510, Florence), Italian painter of the Early Renaissance, representative of the Florentine school. Sandro Botticelli is one of the most prominent artists of the Italian Renaissance. He created allegorical images that were captivating in their sublimity and gave the world the ideal of female beauty. Born into the family of leather tanner Mariano di Vanni Filipepi; The nickname “Botticello” - “barrel” - was inherited from his older brother Giovanni. Among the first information about the artist is an entry in the cadastre of 1458, made by a father about the ill health of his youngest son. After completing his studies, Botticelli became an apprentice in the jewelry workshop of his brother Antonio, but did not stay there for long and around 1464 he became an apprentice to the monk Fra Filippo Lippi from the monastery of Carmine, one of the most famous artists of that time.

The style of Filippo Lippi had a huge influence on Botticelli, manifested mainly in certain types of faces (in a three-quarter turn), decorative and ornamental patterns of draperies, hands, a penchant for detail and a soft, lightened color, in its “waxy” glow. There is no exact information about the period of Botticelli's studies with Filippo Lippi and about their personal relationships, but it can be assumed that they got along well with each other, since a few years later Lippi's son became Botticelli's student. Their collaboration continued until 1467, when Filippo moved to Spoleto and Botticelli opened his workshop in Florence. In the works of the late 1460s, the fragile, flat linearity and grace adopted from Filippo Lippi are replaced by a more voluminous interpretation of figures. Around the same time, Botticelli began using ocher shadows to convey flesh tones, a technique that became a prominent feature of his style. The early works of Sandro Botticelli are characterized by a clear construction of space, clear cut-and-shadow modeling, and interest in everyday details (“Adoration of the Magi”, circa 1474–1475, Uffizi).

From the end of the 1470s, after Botticelli’s rapprochement with the court of the Medici rulers of Florence and the circle of Florentine humanists, the features of aristocracy and sophistication intensified in his work, paintings on ancient and allegorical themes appeared, in which sensual pagan images are imbued with the sublime and at the same time poetic, lyrical spirituality (“Spring”, circa 1477–1478, “Birth of Venus”, circa 1482–1483, both in the Uffizi). The animation of the landscape, the fragile beauty of the figures, the musicality of light, trembling lines, the transparency of exquisite colors, as if woven from reflexes, create in them an atmosphere of dreaminess and slight sadness.

The artist’s easel portraits (portrait of a man with a medal, 1474, Uffizi Gallery, Florence; portrait of Giuliano Medici, 1470s, Bergamo; and others) are characterized by a combination of subtle nuances of the inner state of the human soul and clear detailing of the characters of those portrayed. Thanks to the Medici, Botticelli became closely acquainted with the ideas of humanists (a significant number of them were part of the Medici circle, a kind of elite intellectual center of Renaissance Florence), many of which were reflected in his work. For example, mythological paintings (“Pallas Athena and the Centaur”, 1482; “Venus and Mars”, 1483 and others) were, naturally, painted by the artist Botticelli at the request of the cultural elite and were intended to decorate the palazzo or villas of noble Florentine customers. Before the time of Sandro Botticelli's work, mythological themes in painting were found in decorative decorations for wedding cassones and objects of applied art, only occasionally becoming the object of painting.

In 1481, Sandro Botticelli received an honorary commission from Pope Sixtus IV. The Pontiff had just completed the construction of the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican Palace and wanted the best artists to decorate it with their frescoes. Along with the most famous masters of monumental painting of that time - Perugino, Cosimo Rossellini, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Pinturicchino and Signorelli - Botticelli was also invited at the direction of the pope. In the frescoes executed by Sandro Botticelli in 1481–1482 in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican (“Scenes from the Life of Moses”, “The Punishment of Korah, Dathan and Abiron”, “The Healing of the Leper and the Temptation of Christ”), the majestic harmony of landscape and ancient architecture is combined with internal plot tension , sharpness of portrait characteristics. In all three frescoes, the artist masterfully solved the problem of presenting a complex theological program in clear, light and lively dramatic scenes; this makes full use of compositional effects.

Botticelli returned to Florence in the summer of 1482, perhaps due to the death of his father, but most likely on business in his own busy workshop. In the period between 1480 and 1490, his fame reached its apogee, and he began to receive such a huge number of orders that it was almost impossible to cope with them himself, so most of the Madonna and Child paintings were completed by his students, diligently, but not always brilliantly who copied the style of their master. During these years, Sandro Botticelli painted for the Medici several frescoes at the Villa Spedaletto in Volterra (1483–84), a painting for the altar niche in the Bardi Chapel at the Church of Santo Spirito (1485) and several allegorical frescoes at the Villa Lemmi. The magical grace, beauty, richness of imagination and brilliant execution inherent in paintings on mythological themes are also present in several of Botticelli's famous altarpieces painted during the 1480s. Among the best are the Bardi altarpiece with the image of the Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist (1485) and the “Annunciation by Cestello” (1489–1490, Uffizi).

In the 1490s, during the era of social unrest and mystical-ascetic sermons of the monk Savonarola that shook Florence, notes of drama, moralizing and religious exaltation appeared in Botticelli’s art (“Lamentation of Christ”, after 1490, Poldi Pezzoli Museum, Milan; “Slander” , after 1495, Uffizi). The sharp contrasts of bright color spots, the internal tension of the drawing, the dynamics and expression of the images indicate an extraordinary change in the artist’s worldview - towards greater religiosity and even a kind of mysticism. However, his drawings for Dante’s “Divine Comedy” (1492–1497, Engraving Cabinet, Berlin, and the Vatican Library), with acute emotional expressiveness, retain lightness of line and Renaissance clarity of images.

In the last years of the artist’s life, his fame was declining: the era of new art was coming and, accordingly, new fashion and new tastes. In 1505, he became a member of the city committee, which was supposed to determine the location of the installation of the statue by Michelangelo - his “David”, but other than this fact, other information about the last years of Botticelli’s life is unknown. It is noteworthy that when in 1502 Isabella d'Este was looking for a Florentine artist for herself and Botticelli agreed to the work, she rejected his services. Vasari in his “Biographies...” painted a depressing picture of the last years of the artist’s life, describing him as a poor man, “old and useless,” unable to stand on his feet without the help of crutches. Most likely, the image of a completely forgotten and poor artist is the creation of Vasari, who was prone to extremes in the lives of artists.

Sandro Botticelli died in 1510; This is how the Quattrocento ended - this happiest era in Florentine art. Botticelli died at the age of 65 and was buried in the cemetery of the Florentine Church of Ognissanti. Until the 19th century, when his work was rediscovered by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti and art critics Walter Pater and John Ruskin, his name was virtually forgotten to art history. In Botticelli they saw something akin to the preferences of their era - spiritual grace and melancholy, “sympathy for humanity in its unstable states,” traits of morbidity and decadence. The next generation of researchers of Botticelli's painting, for example Herbert Horn, who wrote in the first decades of the 20th century, discerned something different in it - the ability to convey the plasticity and proportions of a figure - that is, signs of an energetic language characteristic of the art of the early Renaissance. We have quite different estimates. What defines Botticelli's art? The 20th century has done a lot to bring us closer to understanding it. The master’s paintings were organically included in the context of his time, connecting them with the artistic life, literature and humanistic ideas of Florence. Botticelli's painting, attractive and mysterious, is in tune with the worldview not only of the early Renaissance, but also of our time.