Sandro Botticelli

Botticelli was forgotten after his death — the fame of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci eclipsed many earlier artists — but the showing of Spring in 1853 put him back in the spotlight, and the Pre-Raphaelites and other followers of the 19th-century Aesthetic Movement placed him on a pedestal again. His highly individual style — his supple lines, strangely elongated figures and decorative details — had a great influence on the art of the late 1800s. Botticelli spent almost his entire artistic career in Florence, Italy, and left the city only once, when in 1481–82 he and a few other selected painters were summoned to Rome to work on the murals of the Sistine Chapel. This papal commission, than which there was no more prestigious request, shows how famous Botticelli must have been at the time. In the view of art historians, at the height of his career he was the most popular painter in Florence. The artist ran an extremely successful workshop, which created a multitude of paintings for ecclesiastical and secular clients. His favourite pupil, Filippino Lippi (pictured), was, according to some, a greater painter than his master.

From the page of Spring (Primavera)

Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445–1510), a Florentine painter close to the Medici circle, is celebrated for his mythological scenes, such as Primavera, and for the elegance of his line.

From the page of The Birth of Venus