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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE LIFE AND ART

OF

SANDRO BOTTICELLI

THE LIFE AND ART

OF

SANDRO BOTTICELLI

BY
JULIA CARTWRIGHT (MRS. ADY)
AUTHOR OF "ISABELLA D'ESTE," "BEATRICE D'ESTE," "RAPHAEL,:
"THE PAINTERS OF FLORENCE," ETC.

"A good painter has two chief objects to paint, man and
the intention of his soul. The former is easy, the latter
hard." — Leonardo da Vinci.
"Good painting is a music and melody which intellect
only can appreciate and that with difficulty. This paint
ing is so rare that few are capable of attaining to it." —
Michelangelo.

NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON AND CO.
LONDON: DUCKWORTH AND CO.
1904

YALE

CHISWICK PRESS : CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.

PREFACE
r*HE present volume is an expanded form of a smaller sketch which
-*• was kindly received by the public last autumn. On larger lines and
with greater fullness of detail, I have here tried to give some account of
Sandro Botticelli, both as the painter and the man; of his relations with
the Medici and the Florentine humanists on the one hand, and of his
connection with Savonarola and the Piagnone revival on the other. At
the same time I have endeavoured to follow the course of his artistic
training and development, and to enumerate and describe the works
which, in the opinion of the best critics, may be attributed to this master
with certainty. Although of late years much study has been devoted to
Botticelli and his art, our knowledge of the great artist's history remains
scanty and limited, and no complete record of his life can be given. But
his personality and his works are both of them so attractive, and the
interest which he inspires at the present time is so deep, that this study,
1§J ....
incomplete and fragmentary as it necessarily is, may be acceptable to
those who wish to gain a clearer knowledge of one of the most remark
able painters of the Florentine Renaissance.
My obligations to former writers are many and great. For a full
list of the historians and critics whose works have been consulted, the
reader must be referred to the Bibliography at the close of the volume.
But I wish especially to offer my sincere thanks to Mr. Berenson and
Mr. Herbert Horhe, the chief recent authorities on the life and works
of Botticelli; and to M. Jacques Mesnil, Signor Poggi, and Herr
Brockhaus, for the fresh light which their researches have thrown on
v

PREFACE
the painter's career. In common with every student of Botticelli's art,
I am deeply indebted to Dr. Steinmann for his learned analysis of the
frescoes in the Sixtine Chapel; as well as to the late Dr. Lippmann and
Dr. Strzygowski, for their valuable commentaries on the. Dante draw
ings in the Berlin Museum and the Vatican. And I further wish to
express my gratitude to Professor Villari for his admirable works on
Savonarola, the great Dominican friar with whom our painter was
closely connected in his later years, and more especially for his kind
permission to quote some extracts from the Chronicle, recently published
by him, written by Sandro's brother, Simone dei Filipepi.
Julia Cartwright.
ROSENLAUI,
August 2^th, 1904

CONTENTS

Chapter I.
PAGE
II.
1444—1467 .
8
III.
1467— 1475 .
16
IV.
[474
• 27
V.
1474— 1476
• 36
VI.
[476—1478
• 52
VII.
1475— H78
. 61
VIII.
1478 — 1480
• 76
IX.
1480 — 1 48 1
. 89
X.
[481 — 1482
. 98
XI.
[482
•
in
XII. j
[483—1489
117
XIII. i
[484—1488
128
XIV. i
489 — 1498
144
XV. i
[491—1500 .
157
XVI. ]
[490—1510
171
Chief Works
Bibliography
•
189192
Index .
.
195
vn
LIST OF FULL-PAGE PLATES

The Chigi Madonna. (Photogravure)
Fortezza ....
Judith ....
La Bella Simonetta .
Giuliano dei Medici .
Portrait ....
A Medici Lady .
Adoration of the Magi. (Uffizi)
Spring ....
The Three Graces
One of the Graces
Pallas ....
Pallas and the Centaur
Birth of Venus .
St. Augustine. (Ognissanti, Florence)
Adoration of the Magi. (St. Petersburg)
Scene from the tale of " Nastagio degli On
Abundance ....
Madonna and Child with St. John
Magnificat
Madonna of St. Barnaba .
St. Augustine. (Uffizi)
Coronation of the Virgin .
Santa Caterina .
Madonna of the Pomegranate
Pieta ....
Madonna with Angels bearing Tapers
Annunciation .....

esti.'

Frontispiece

(Photogr

vure

1 8
20
44 46
48 5o
60
68 7474 78
80
84
9094
125
126
128 128*34
136140142142
152 154154

ix

LIST OF FULL-PAGE PLATES
The Triumph of Love
Scene from the life of St. Zenobius
Two Scenes from the life of St. Zenobius
The Story of Virginia
Calumny ....
Drawing of Three Angels .
The Nativity
Giants. ("Inferno," xxxi.)
The Mount. ("Purgatorio," i.)
The Car ofthe Church. ("Purgatorio," xxx.)
Dante and Beatrice flying upwards. ("Paradiso," i. )
Dante and Beatrice in Mercury. ("Paradiso," vii.) .
Dante and Beatrice at the foot ofthe ladder. ("Paradiso,'
The Angelic Host. ("Paradiso," xxviii.)

TO FACE
PAGE 156 157 158l6o l66
168170
177I78
l80l8l182
xxi.) 184
. 186

The Chigi Madonna is reproduced here as a frontispiece by per
mission of Messrs. P. and D. Colnaghi.
The scene from the tale of "Nastagio degli Onesti " is reproduced
from a photograph belonging to Mr. J. Caswall-Smith, by permission
ofthe "Burlington Magazine."

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

Madonna della Vanella
Judith St. Sebastian

The Chigi Madonna .
Giovanni dei Medici .
Adoration of the Magi
Group from the Adoration .
Group from the Adoration .
Portrait of Botticelli .
Venus. (Detail of " Spring")
Spring. (Detail)
The Three Graces
One of the Graces
Pallas ....
Venus. (Detail of " The Birth of Venus ")
Mars and Venus
Purification of a Leper
Group from the Purification of a Leper
Moses and Zipporah at the Well
Group from the Life of Moses .
Group of the Blasphemer from the Punishment of Korah
Moses, from the Punishment of Korah
Lorenzo Tornabuoni welcomed by the Liberal Arts
Giovanna Tornabvioni and the Three Graces
The Virgin of the Magnificat ....
Angels from the Magnificat ....
Madonna with St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evan
Santa Caterina .... xi

gelist

PAGE *7
22
24
2550
53
545556
69 707i72
8285
86
101
103
105106
108109 121
123
129130 *33135

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT
Madonna of the Pomegranate .
Head of the Madonna ofthe Pomegranate
Madonna and Child with Angels
Madonna and Child ......
Dancing Angels from the Coronation of the Virgin
Madonna from the Annunciation
Calumny ........
Calumny and Innocence. (Detail)
The Holy Family. (Study for the Nativity)

PAGE 136 137

139 142 *54
163
164
169

XII

the life and art of
SANDRO BOTTICELLI
CHAPTER I
Sandro Botticelli and his Art. — His popularity in the Present Age.— Ruskin reveals him to
Englishmen. — Pater's appreciation. — The Pre-Raphaelites. — The scientific art-critics.—
. Morelli and Berenson. — Recent writers on the subject. — Personality of the Artist. — Florence
in the age of the Medici. — Her importance as a centre of art. — Vasari's reasons for her
artistic supremacy in the fifteenth century.
ALESSANDRO DEI FILIPEPI, or Sandro Botticelli, as the artist
was familiarly termed by his friends and contemporaries, is one
of the most interesting and attractive among the Florentine masters of
the Renaissance. His art, as we all know, has had a singular fascina
tion for the critics and scholars of the nineteenth century. The strong
individuality of his conceptions, the power and originality of hTsthought,
-aTrd-Tfie"myStic;te:ndency of his genius, as well as his fine poetic imagina-
tion and keen sense of beauty, appeal in a peculiar manner to the
modern mind, and have made him as popular in the present day as he
was during his own -lifetime. On the one hand, Botticelli's poetic charm,
fttg"^rofouiidreligious feelTrig and strong human sympathy were a
favourite theme with thTgreat thinkers of the last generation who first
opene3~our eyes to the glories of the Early Italian Renaissance. On
'the other, his mastery of design, the grace of his line and charm of his
^colour hlivewon the praise of those experts who have brought the more
scientific methods of the new criticism to bear upon these questions.
"Thus both schools of modern art-criticism agree in their admiration of
this Florentine master, whose rare merit had been practically forgotten
for nearly four hundred years after his death.
First among the leaders of thought to whom this revival of interest
in Botticelli's art is due, was Ruskin. Of late years it has become the
I B

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
fashion to disparage Ruskin's services to art, and to scoff at the incon
sistency and errors' of the criticism which he devoted to Italian painters.
But whatever his defects may have been in this respect, the great
advance both in knowledge and connoisseurship which has been made
during the last thirty years, is largely the result of this one man's
clear-sighted vision and untiring efforts. Ruskin certainly possessed in
a supreme degree the faculty of discerning at a glance those beauties
which others take many years to recognize, or would never discover for
themselves. Many of us have felt as Charlotte Bronte wrote after
reading " Modern Painters," that we had been "walking blindfold""
-until Ruskin first opened our eyes to the wonders of Art and Nature.
He it was who first saw the beauties of Botticelli's frescoes in the Sistine
Chapel when most critics had only eyes for Michelangelo, and who
told the world the meaning of Sa.n6.ro s Judith and Fortezsa. He it was
who, on his return from Florence in 1845, wrote to the "Times" urging
the trustees of the National Gallery to buy the works — not of Guido
and Rubens — but of the old Florentine masters, Giotto and Angelico
and Botticelli. And he it was once more who, in 1872, first taught
the Oxford undergraduates how to study Sandro's art, in those lectures
which were afterwards so widely read in the volume bearing the title of
"Ariadne Florentina." "I say with pride," he wrote in his epilogue
to the second volume of " Modern Painters," "that it was left to me
and to me aloner first to discern and then to teach, so far as in this
hurried century any such thing can be taught, the excellency and
supremacy of five great painters, despised until I spoke of them —
Turner, Tintoret, Luini, Botticelli and Carpaccio. Despised — nay,
scarcely in any true sense ofthe word known."
The English pre-Raphaelite painters quickly caught the fire of
Ruskin's enthusiasm. Both Dante Rossetti and Burne-Jones turned
with instinctive sympathy to the primitive master in whose art they
found an intensity of expression and mystic feeling closely akin to their
own. They bought pictures which, if they were not painted by him, at
least bore the stamp of his powerful individuality, and studied every
detail of his works with a reverence that was almost worship. So, by
slow degrees, the movement spread, and in the early seventies a new
passion for this long-forgotten master sprang up in cultured circles.
2

APPRECIATIONS
Pictures by Botticelli and his followers were brought to light, and
appeared at Winter Exhibitions on the walls of Burlington House.
Travellers brought back photographs and copies of his masterpieces, and
began to write and talk of Botticelli on their own account. " People
have begun to find out the charm of Botticelli's work," wrote Pater in
the "Fortnightly Review," "and his name, little known in the last
century, is quietly becoming important." Next to Ruskin's writings,
nothing helped to produce this happy result more than the eloquent ap
preciation of Botticelli from the pen of the last-named writer, which,
indeed, appeared as early as 1870, and attracted general attention at the
time. The peculiar charm ofthe painter's art, the spirit which animates his
quaint versions of Greek myths and hisLJUOJocnful-Madonnas. has never
been described in truer or more exquisite language than in the chapter
devoted to Botticelli in Pater's "Studies of the Renaissance." But in
this very essay, we find a curious mark of the ignorance on these
subjects that still prevailed even in Oxford circles. The accomplished
author, it appears, was not aware of the existence of Botticelli's drawings
of the " Divina Commedia" in the Duke of Hamilton's possession, and
in speaking of the engravings in Landino's edition of Dante, lamented
that the painter had only illustrated the poet's "Inferno," and had
never turned his attention to the " Purgatorio " or " Paradiso."
A host of English and foreign writers now approached the subject
on different sides. John Addington Symonds described the Madonna
of the Magnificat in the Uffizi, in a well-known passage of his great
work on the Italian Renaissance. Vernon Lee wrote a graceful account
of the newly-discovered frescoes of Villa Lemmi. Crowe and Caval-
caselle, and Eugene Miintz, the French historian of the Renaissance,
studied Botticelli's art carefully, and drew up lists of his works.
German scholars discussed the motives of his paintings, and wrangled
over the meaning of his Primavera and Venus. Then Morelli took up
his pen, and a new era opened in the history of art-criticism. He
boldly attacked the mass of confusion and error which had arisen from
the blind acceptance of traditional attributions, laid down definite rules
by which the hand of individual artists could be recognized, and pointed
to the study of original drawings as the surest way of acquiring certain
knowledge of a painter's style and of the school in which he was trained.
3

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
Since then the able critics who followed in his steps have devoted much
attention to the art of Botticelli with admirable results. Mr Berenson
has praised him as the greatest artist of lineal design thlLTEurope'has^
-eveTliad"^ and Mr. Herbert Home has given us precious fragments of
>rre~great work on which he has already spent many years of labour, but
for which we still wait.
The personality of Botticelli is no less interesting than his art.
Incomplete and fragmentary as our knowledge of his life and character
still remains, we know enough to realize the vigour and originality of
his mind, and the profound impression which the man left upon his
contemporaries. In an age that was in a remarkable manner productive
of great personalities, when Lorenzo dei Medici and Savonarola,
Poliziano and Pico della Mirandola, Leonardo and Michelangelo were
all living, Sandro Botticelli stands out pre-eminently among the men
of his generation by the greatness of his creations and the might of his
enthusiasms. In him we have above all a typical Florentine artist, who
gave expression to the life and thought of his fellow-citizens more fully
than any contemporary painter. The other great masters who flourished
at the close of the fifteenth century were soon drawn away from their
native city. Leonardo da Vinci spent the best years of his life at Milan,
and went to die at the court of Francis I; Michelangelo belongs more
to Rome than he does to Florence, and his most famous paintings are
to be found in the Sistine Chapel. But Sandro spent almost the whole
of his life in the city of his birth, and is closely associated with her
most glorious days.
Born in the time of Cosimo dei Medici, the illustrious citizen who
raised the fortunes of his family and country to so high a pitch and
acquired the title oi Pater patriae, Botticelli lived to become the favourite
painter of Cosimo's still more illustrious grandson, Lorenzo il Mag-
nifico, and was employed by him to record the triumph of his house and
the ruin of his foes on the walls of Florence. An intimate friend and
companion of the humanists whom Lorenzo delighted to honour, Sandro
painted the classical myths of the Greek world with which they were
enamoured, as it appeared in their eyes. His Venus and Pallas, his
Mercury and Flora, his nymphs and cupids were inspired by their
1 "The Florentine Painters ofthe Renaissance," by Bernhard Berenson, p. 75.
4

THE MEDICEAN AGE
verses. His lovely visions of the Primavera and the Birth of Venus owe
their origin to the poems of Angelo Poliziano; each detail in the
allegorical subjects which he painted in honour of Lorenzo Tornabuoni's
wedding was supplied by Marsilio Ficino or some leading humanist of
the Medici circle. The enthusiasm of these Florentine Platonists for
antiquity, their love of natural beauty, even their revived interest in
Dante's "Divina Commedia," are all reflected in Botticelli's works. The
same deep-rooted idealism which made Pico della Mirandola and Marsilio
Ficino seek to reconcile the doctrine of Plato with the Christian faith,
moved Sandro to paint those Madonnas in which the tenderest human
affection and the purest religious feeling are combined with the highest
decorative beauty. And this same mystic tendency led Botticelli to
listen with passionate attention to the great Dominican preacher whose
voice had so strange an attraction for the humanists of Lorenzo's circle,
and made him devote the art of his latter days to the cause of Christ
and the Frate.
Thus Botticelli stands out in an especial manner as the representative
of the Medicean age. The range of his art is as wide as the culture
of the Renaissance itself, and the political movements which divided
Florence during his lifetime, the struggle between the Medici and the
Pazzi, the bitter strife of Arrabbiati and Piagnoni, are as fully reflected in
his work as the different currents of thought, the ideals and aspirations
of the scholars and poets of his day. That day was a memorable one
for Florence, and Giovanni Rucellai, we can well believe, expressed the
feelings of many of his fellow-countrymen when he gave thanks to God
that he was a native of the most illustrious city in the world, and lived
in the time of the Magnificent Lorenzo. Since the days of Giotto and
Dante, Florence had become the centre of the new culture, the starting-
point of all literary and artistic endeavour. After the suppression of the
Ciompi rebellion and the final conquest of Pisa in 1406, the Republic
entered on a prolonged period of peace and prosperity. The wealth of
her merchants increased rapidly, her commerce spread to foreign lands
and distant cities. Not only in Genoa and Milan, but in Lyons and
Bruges, the Portinari and other great patricians of Florence opened
their houses and carried on a flourishing trade. At the same time, the
decline of Milan and of the power of the Visconti princes gave Florence
5

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
an opportunity to acquire a political supremacy of which Cosimo dei
Medici, as chief magistrate, was not slow to avail himself. Thus the
first half of the fifteenth century witnessed an extensive development of
civic life, which was followed by a similar advance in learning and a
splendid blossoming of the fine arts. The chiefs of rival factions,
whether Medici or Albizzi, alike devoted their gold and influence to the
encouragement of art and letters, and new churches and palaces arose
on the banks of the Arno. Then Brunellesco modelled the majestic
Dome which is still without a rival in the world, and Ghiberti moulded
the bas-reliefs of the famous Baptistery gates. Then Donatello carved
the marble saints which guard the walls of Or' San Michele, and in the
dim aisles of the Carmine church young Masaccio painted those frescoes
that were to be the model of future generations of painters in the years
to come. Florence now became a centre to which all eyes were turned
throughout Italy. Foreign princes, the art-loving Dukes of Milan and
Urbino, Francesco Sforza and his sons, invited Florentine architects
and painters to build their churches and decorate their palaces; and
artists from North Italy and Umbria, Gentile da Fabriano and Jacopo
Bellini, Piero dei Franceschi and Luca Signorelli, came to Florence in
search ofthe training which they could not find elsewhere. When young
Pietro Perugino had learnt all that his Umbrian master could teach
him, that same master, Vasari tells us, bade him go to Florence, since
there, above all other places, men rise to perfection in all the arts, but
most especially in painting.
"This," the Aretine biographer continues, "arises from three
causes which in that city incite artists to earnest endeavour. In the first
place, criticism is freely expressed on all sides and on all subjects,
because the air of Florence makes the intellects of men naturally
independent, and not content with mediocrity, but ever careful to
recognize the good and beautiful in works of art, without respect to the
author. Secondly, in order to earn a living in Florence, it is necessary
for a man to be industrious, that is to say, he must constantly use his
mind and judgement and be quick and sharp in all that he does, and
know how to make money, since Florence, not having a naturally rich
and fertile territory, cannot supply the means of living at a small cost.
6

THE MEDICEAN AGE
In the third place, this air inspires men cf all professions with a great
desire to gain glory and honour, so that no man of spirit is willing to
be left behind, or to be conquered in the struggle by those who are his
equals, but all alike strive to obtain the mastery."
Whether there was any truth in the words which Vasari puts into
the mouth of the Umbrian painter who sent Perugino to seek his
fortunes in Florence, whether, like the Athenians of old, her citizens
owed their fine intellect and natural independence to the pure, keen air
of the Apennines which surround her walls, it is certain that in the
fifteenth century she enjoyed undisputed supremacy in art and letters
among the cities of Italy. It was in these golden days, when the
Medici were at the height of their power, and Florence was the home
of the foremost scholars and artists of the age, that Sandro Botticelli
first saw the liertt in his father's house on the banks of Arno.

CHAPTER II
1444— 1 467
Birth and family of the painter. — The surname of Botticelli. — Early training under Fra Filippo
Lippi. — The Carmelite painter, his style and genius. — Frescoes of the lives of St. John the
Baptist and St. Stephen in the choir of the Pieve. — Similarity of Botticelli's style to that of
Fra Filippo. — Motives derived from the Friar's work. — Fra Filippo goes to Spoleto.—
Sandro returns to Florence. — Botticelli's first Madonna.
ALESSANDRO, "called after our custom Sandro," says Vasari,
"and further surnamed di Botticelli, for a reason that -shall be
afterwards explained," was the fourth son and youngest child of a
prosperous tanner, Mariano di Vanni dei Filipepi. In those days there
were extensive tanneries along the banks of the Mugnone, a stream on
the outskirts of the city of Florence, which M. Miintz compares with
the Bievre of modern Paris. Mariano was probably the proprietor of
one of these tanneries, but he lived with his large family of children and
grandchildren in a house ofthe Via Nuova, now the Via della Porcellana,
in the Borgo Ognissanti, close to the church of Santa Lucia. M. Mesnil,
who has lately made fresh researches on the subject, tells us that the
tanner's house stood on the site occupied by the present house, No. 28,
close to the cemetery of Ognissanti.1 Mariano seems to have been in
comfortable circumstances, and owned land at Peretola, a village near
the Porta al Prato, which brought him a substantial income. All his four
sons were brought up to some trade. The eldest, Giovanni, born in 1420,
followed his father's profession and was a leather merchant who acquired
the nickname of il 71 Botticello" (Little Barrel) either from the cask
which was the sign of his shop, or from his own corpulent figure. The
second, Antonio, born in 1429, was apprenticed to a goldsmith and
traded in that capacity first in Florence 'and afterwards at Bologna,
where he also sold books. The third, Simone, was born in 1443, and
went to Naples at the age of fourteen, in the service of the wealthy
1 " Miscellanea d'Arte," 1903, p. 87.
8

EARLY YEARS
Florentine banker, Paolo Rucellai. Sandro, the fourth brother, was
formerly supposed to have been born late in 1446, or early in 1447, from
the income-tax return made in 1480 by his father, who there describes
him as being thirty-three years of age.1 But these Catasti, or registers,
which afford us so much valuable information regfardino- Florentine
artists, are often inaccurate, and in Sandro's case the different state
ments as to his age certainly do not agree with each other. A few
years ago Mr. Herbert Home discovered an earlier income-tax return,
made in February 1458 (O. S. 1457), in which Sandro is described as
being thirteen years of age and as still going to school, on account of
his delicate health.2 As a rule the records kept in a boy's early days,
when he was still living under his father's roof, are found to be the most
accurate, and it is in after years, when the members of the family are
grown up and scattered, that these small discrepancies creep in. In this
case we may conclude that Sandro was born in 1444, and was therefore
only a year younger than his brother Simone, with whom he became
closely associated in the latter part of his career. This discovery has
been confirmed by M. Mesnil, who, within the last year, has published
a still earlier entry in the register, a return made by Mariano on the
ist of March, 1446, in which he states that his son Sandro is two years
of age.3 M. Mesnil, however, doubts the accuracy of Mr. Home's
reading of the entry made in February, 1457. The actual words are:
'"''Sandro ?nio figliolo detto, d'anni ij: sta al legare ed e malsano."
Possibly, as M. Mesnil suggests, the words "sta al legare" which
Mr. Home interprets as "going to school," may refer to the gold
smith's trade, or to the binding of books, which Sandro's brother
Antonio sold. But in those days of early apprenticeships, it is hardly
likely that a boy of thirteen was still going to school.
Be this as it may, Vasari tells us that Sandro took no pleasure
in reading, writing, or figures, and was always discontented, until his
father, in despair at the boy's strange habits, apprenticed him to a
goldsmith named Botticello, who was a very competent master of his
art. No goldsmith of that name, however, appears to have been living
1 Gaye's " Carteggio," vol. i, p. 344. Comp. "Chronique des Arts," 1899, p. 312. E. Miintz.
" " Revue Archeologique," vol. xxxix, p. 12.
3 " Miscellanea d'Arte," p. 87 sqq.
Q C

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
in Florence ; and the surname of Botticelli, by which Sandro has be
come known to posterity, was evidently acquired from his elder brother
Giovanni. The painter does not seem to have used the name him
self, as far as we can tell from the only two works which bear his signa
ture. On the panel ofthe Nativity of 1500, now in the National Gallery,
he writes: "This picture I, Alessandro, painted," and in the drawing
ofthe twenty-eighth canto of " Paradiso," on the tablet borne by one
of the angels in the choirs of heaven, we read the words: " Sandro di
Mariano." In his income-tax return of 1498, he signs the paper with
his full name, " Alessandro di Mariano dei Filipepi," * and in the contract
for the frescoes ofthe Sistine Chapel in October, 1481, he is described
as "Alessandro Mariani de Florencia." 2 On the other hand, his surname
of Botticelli is always used in the Florentine contracts of the period.
This is the case both in the commission which he received from the
Signora in 1478, to paint the effigies of the Pazzi conspirators on the
walls ofthe Palazzo Pubblico; and again in 1491, when, shortly before
Lorenzo dei Medici's death, he and a few other distinguished artists
were appointed to choose a design for the facade of the Duomo. Again,
in two entries of the year 1485, which were lately discovered by Signor
Supiho in the archives of the Guicciardini family, we find the painter of
the altar-piece in San Spirito described as "Sandro del Botticiello." This
was evidently the name commonly used by his comrades. Leonardo da
Vinci speaks of him in his " Trattato della Pittura" as "our Botticello,"
and Michelangelo, who was thirty years younger than Sandro, sent
him a letter in 1496, addressed to "Sandro Botticelli, painter in Flo
rence." Antonio Billi, the Florentine chronicler, who wrote early in
the sixteenth century, probably while Sandro was still alive, describes
him as Sandro di Botticello; and the Anonimo of the "Codex Gad-
diano," who compiled his account of the artist a few years later, gives
his full name as "Sandro di Mariano, di Vanni dei Filipepi,. called
Sandro di Botticelli."
It is of course very probable that Sandro worked for a year or
two in the shop of his brother, the goldsmith Antonio, but before long
he succeeded in convincing old Mariano that painting was his true
1 Gaye's " Carteggio," vol. i, p. 344.
2 D. Gnoli in "Archivio dell' Arte," 1893, vol. vi, p. 128.
IO

FRA FILIPPO
vocation. "There was at that time," writes Vasari, "much familiarity
(domestichezza) and an almost constant intercourse between the gold
smiths and the painters; and before long Sandro, who was endowed
with considerable skill, and applied his whole mind to drawing, became
enamoured of painting, and determined to devote himself to this art. He
now opened his heart freely to his father, who, seeing his inclination
and knowing the strength of his will, took him to Fra Filippo of the
Carmine, a most excellent painter of that time, and placed him with
him to learn painting, as Sandro himself desired." The old tanner's
choice could not have fallen on a more gifted painter or a teacher
more calculated to appreciate and encourage his son's budding genius.
Filippo Lippi, the Carmelite friar whose life and character have been
drawn for us so vividly both by Vasari and Browning, was then at
the height of his renown. The genial, pleasure-loving man, a painter
by vocation and a monk by accident, had long ago turned his back
on the cloister which suited him so ill, and stood high in the favour
of Cosimo dei Medici and his sons. His fame had spread beyond the
walls of Florence, and Filarete, the Tuscan architect in the service of
the Duke of Milan, mentions him in his "Treatise on Architecture"
as one of the few artists who could be trusted to decorate a prince's
palace. Fra Filippo's inborn love of all bright and pleasant things, his
taste for rich brocades and splendid architecture, the natural delight
which he took in the flowers and the sunshine, in lovely women-faces
and rosy-cheeked babies, the glowing light and colour in which he
bathes his pictures, fitted him in an especial manner to be the herald of
that fuller and larger life which was dawning on the men and women
of his age. A realist at heart, he painted the curly-headed boys whom
he met in the streets of Florence as angels, filled the courts of heaven
with fair maidens in sumptuous attire, and took his own mistress as a
model for the Madonna. There was no pretence at religious feeling or
devotional fervour in his art; he was frankly in love with all the good
things of life, and asked for nothing better than to enjoy these to the
full:
The world 's no blot for us
Nor blank; it means intensely, and means good ;
To find its meaning is my meat and drink.
II

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
But his naturalism differed wholly from that of his more scientific con
temporaries, Paolo Uccello or Andrea del Castagno. From his first
masters, Lorenzo Monaco and Masolino, he learnt the old traditions of
fourteenth-century art and acquired his rare skill in handling colour
and glazes. He never troubled his head with problems of form or per
spective or anxious inquiries as to the latest technical methods. The
old tempera painting was good enough for him, and it must be owned
that he carried it to the highest pitch of perfection. But at the same
time he learnt much from Masaccio, whom he must often have seen at
work in the Brancacci Chapel of the Carmelite Church; and after the
death of this short-lived master, Vasari writes: "People said that
Masaccio's spirit had entered into the body of Fra Filippo." He cer
tainly profited greatly by the advance which Masaccio and his followers
had effected, and in his larger and more important works, such as the
scenes from the Baptist and St. Stephen at Prato, we see how closely
he imitates the composition and grouping of the Carmine frescoes. Yet
all his work is marked by the same individuality of type and feeling,
and the soft charm and gaiety of his colour, as well as the strong
human element that is everywhere present in his art, explains the wide
spread popularity which he acquired during his lifetime.
Such was the master to whom Sandro was apprenticed in 1459 or
1460, when he was about fifteen years old, and from whom he received
his first regular training. It has been supposed by some critics, who
detect a resemblance between the tall, slender types of Pesellino's figures
and those afterwards adopted by Botticelli, that Sandro learnt of this
master. But although Pesellino worked for many years as Fra Filippo's
assistant, and was, next to Botticelli himself, the Carmelite painter's
ablest and most successful scholar, he can never have been his teacher,
since he died in 1457, at which time, as we have already seen, Sandro
had not yet entered the friar's bottega. From the moment that the boy
was allowed to follow his own bent, his powers developed rapidly.
" He devoted himself entirely," writes Vasari, " to the study ofthe art
which he had chosen, and followed the instruction and imitated the
manner of his master so closely, that Fra Filippo soon loved him dearly,
and took so much pains in teaching him that Sandro quickly reached a
degree of excellence far beyond all expectation."
12

FRA FILIPPO
Since the year 1452 Fra Filippo had been engaged to decorate the
choir of the Pieve or Collegiate Church at Prato, but his work there
was repeatedly interrupted by other commissions, as well as by his
notorious intrigue with the young nun, Lucrezia Buti. This orphan
girl of nineteen had been placed in a convent at Prato at an early age
by her brother, and is said to have sat to the friar as a model for the
beautiful Pitti Madonna, soon after he first began work in the Pieve
choir. The painter, although already over fifty, promptly fell in love with
his fair model, and on the festival of the Holy Girdle in May, 1456,
he carried off Lucrezia to his house, where, in the following year, she
gave birth to a son, who afterwards became the artist, Filippino Lippi.
Eventually Fra Filippo's powerful friend, Cosimo dei Medici, interceded
with Pope Pius II on behalf of the guilty pair, and in 1461, a papal
bull was issued releasing them from their monastic vows and declar
ing them to be lawful man and wife. But it was not till early in 1464
that Fra Filippo resumed his long neglected work in the Pieve, at the
urgent entreaty of the newly-appointed Provost, Cosimo's illegitimate
son Carlo. By this time Sandro had been several years in the Friar's
workshop and had already given proofs of his powers. He was no
doubt able to render his master efficient service in the series of frescoes
which Lippi painted on the choir walls of the Collegiate Church. The
subject assigned to the artist had been the history of St. John the
Baptist and of St. Stephen, and since Fra Filippo had already devoted
many months to the task, we may conclude that he was now engaged
on the two last frescoes of the series. One of these was the Feast of
Herodias, with Salome dancing before King Herod and the assembled
guests on one side, and on the other, kneeling before her mother, and
offering her the head of the Baptist on a charger. The other, painted
on the opposite wall of the choir, was the Stoning and Burial of St.
Stephen, the first Christian martyr. It is just in these last subjects that
we trace the strongest resemblance to Botticelli's future creations. In
the lio-ht and graceful steps of the girl Salome, as she dances before
Kino- Herod and his guests in the spacious hall, in her swaying form
and fluttering scarf, in the long throats and clinging draperies of
Herodias and her maidens, in the expression of wistful sadness on the
faces of the spectators, we recognize many of those motives which
13

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
belong peculiarly to Botticelli and his'school. Again, in the patriarchal
figures of the venerable Evangelists which adorn the vaulted roof, we
notice a marked likeness to the bearded saints and bishops of Sandro's
altar-pieces, while in the yearning faces of the mournful disciples gazing
in love and sorrow at the dead body of Stephen there is a depth and
intensity of expression which seems to foreshadow the scholar's art.
Sandro indeed may have had an important share in these frescoes, and
it remains a question how much of his style was derived from Fra
Filippo or what portion of these admirable paintings was his work. But
the more carefully we study the altar-pieces and smaller panels of the
Carmelite friar, the more we realize how closely Sandro formed his style
on his master's pattern. In the different attitudes and movements of his
figures, in the details of their dress and ornament, in the gauzy, trans
parent draperies and dainty headgear of his Madonnas and nymphs,
we are constantly reminded of Fra Filippo's work. The pen-drawings
of the two masters show a still more remarkable similarity, and, as Mr.
Berenson has lately pointed out,1 we have a prototype of Botticelli's
achievements in this line, in the admirable pen-and-ink sketch by Fra
Filippo of a Madonna kneeling between St. Michael and St. Bernard in
adoration of the Child, which is preserved in the archives of Florence.
This sketch belongs to a letter addressed by the master to Giovanni
dei Medici, who had ordered him to paint a Madonna which he mierit
present to Alfonso, King of Naples, in the year 1457, and is one ofthe
yery few drawings still in existence by this artist. "Fra Filippo,"
Vasari tells us, "drew exceedingly well, as maybe seen from our book
of drawings by the most famous painters, which contains, amongst
others, several studies for his Santo Spirito altar-piece in the chapel of
Prato. " Unfortunately, hardly any of these sketches have been preserved,
and the Uffizi does not contain a. single specimen by the Frate's hand.
The series of frescoes in the choir of the Pieve, upon which Fra
Filippo had been engaged at intervals during the last thirteen years, was
at length completed in 1465, but the painter remained at Prato during
the next two years to recruit himself after his arduous labours, and to
execute various private commissions which he had undertaken. The
most important of these was an altar-piece of the Presentation for the
1 "The Drawings of Florentine Painters," by Bernhard Berenson, vol. i, p. Si.
14

FRA FILIPPO
Servi Fathers, which he only finfshed in the spring of 1467. Immedi
ately after this he set out for Spoleto, taking with him his little son,
Filippino, and his chief assistant, Fra Diamante, to paint the choir of
the Cathedral, at the invitation of the magistrates of that city. Sandro
did not accompany his master on thisTast journey. But the choirs of
angels, singing and dancing on the meadows of Paradise, swinging
censers in the air, or scattering roses at the feet of the blessed, which
form so prominent a feature of Fra Filippo's Coronation of the Virgin
in the cupola of the Spoleto Duomo, bear a striking resemblance to
Botticelli's own creations and seem to indicate that he had a share in
this latest phase of his master's art. The invitation of the Commune
had reached the Friar through his illustrious patron Cosimo dei Medici
in 1464, and during the interval which elapsed between the completion
of the Pieve frescoes and Lippi's departure for Spoleto, Sandro may well
have assisted his master in preparing cartoons for this important work.
It is also highly probable that Botticelli visited Spoleto on his way to
Rome in 1481, which would account for his familiarity with Fra Filippo's
last works. In any case Sandro did not forget the debt that he owed to
his old master, and when, after the Friar's sudden death in October,
1469, his assistant, Fra Diamante, brought his young son, Filippino,
back to Florence, the lad entered Botticelli's workshop and grew up in
the charge of his father's most distinguished pupil.

T5

CHAPTER III
1467— 1475
Sandro's early works.— The Madonna della Vannella.— The Adoration of the Magi in the National
Gallery.— Influence of the Pollaiuoli on his style.— He works as their assistant.— The For
tezza.— Judith and Holofernes.—St. Sebastian. — The Chigi Madonna.
THE dark choir of the ancient church at Prato, with its sorely-
injured but still beautiful and animated frescoes by the Carmelite
painter, was, we have seen, the true school in which Sandro Botticelli
received his artistic training, and the dreamy, impressionable youth first
woke to a sense of his own genius. From this school he emerged an
independent master when, on Fra Filippo's departure for Spoleto, he
returned to settle in his old home at Florence. By this time he was
three-and-twenty, and must have painted many pictures before he could
have executed such works as the Fortezza and the long panel of the
Adoration of 'the Magi (No. 592) in the National Gallery. But not a
single specimen of his work at this period was known to be in existence
until, a few years ago, Mr. Herbert Home and Mr. Berenson discovered
a damaged fresco of the Virgin and Child in the little oratory known
as the Madonna della Vannella on the hillside near the village of Set
tignano. This painting originally adorned a wayside shrine in honour
of Our Lady, whose kindly influence the Tuscan peasants invoked to
shield from hail and tempest the vineyards and orchards on the hillside
leading over the valley towards Fiesole. The Madonna is represented
seated in a marble niche looking down on the Child, who stands on her
knee and reaches out his little arms towards his mother. The form and
action of the Child and the expression of his face strongly resemble Fra
Filippo's babies, especially the infant of the Munich picture, but the
drooping head of the Virgin and the gentle melancholy of her face are
already characteristic of Botticelli. " The head of the Virgin, the shape
of her veil, the features and colouring," writes Mr. Home, "are all in
16

EARLY WORKS

/

Botticelli's manner and have that quality of line which none of his
imitators could attain." 1
This interesting fresco was evidently painted either while Sandro
was still working with the Carmelite friar, or very soon after his return
from Prato. Another work of his which was probably executed two or
three years later, about 1468 or 1469, is the long narrow panel of the
Adoration of the Magi in the Na
tional Gallery (No. 592). This pic
ture still bears the name of Filippino
Lippi in the Catalogue, but Morelli
and all the best critics have long re
cognized it as an early work of his
master, Botticelli. Here the youth
ful-looking Virgin and Child are quite
in Fra Filippo's style, and might
almost be taken for his work, but the
animated throng of attendants and
spectators betray the scholar's hand,
while the group of pages and serv
ants leading horses in the Magi's
train, at the opposite end of the pic
ture, reveal the presence of another
influence, and show us that the friar's
pupil had found a new teacher. This
was none other than Antonio Pol-
laiuolo, the goldsmith painter, who
at that time stood at the head of the
Naturalist school in Florence. The
pupil of Andrea del Castagno and the
heir of the great traditions which Donatello and Paolo Uccello had left
behind them, this distinguished artist was the foremost representative of
the scientific movement which had already taken so strong a hold on
the Florentine painters of the fifteenth century. The flourishing bottega,
which he and his brother Piero held in the Vacchereccia or Cow-market,
was a centre for technical research and anatomical studies. Antonio
1 " Revue Archeologique," vol. xxxix, p. 12.
17

By permission of H . P. Hornet Esq.]
MADONNA DELLA VANNELLA
(Settignano)

D

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
himself had the reputation of being the first metal-worker in Florence, and
the thorough knowledge of anatomy which he had acquired, made Vasari
say that "he treated nudes in a more modern style than any artist before
him." The three mighty figures of Hercules, with which he decorated
the Medici palace, early secured the patronage ofthe illustrious family
whom he was to serve during the next five and thirty years; and when
he went to Rome in 1489 Lorenzo dei Medici recommended him to
Pope Innocent VIII as "the greatest master in the city, and one who,
in the opinion of every intelligent person, has never been equalled."
Another critic of authority, Benvenuto Cellini, describes Antonio Pol-
laiuolo as the best draughtsman of his day in Florence. " This man,"
writes Cellini, "did little else, but he drew marvellously, and always
practised the same grand style of drawing. And he was so great a
draughtsman that not only all the goldsmiths worked from his designs,
but that many of the best sculptors and painters were glad to make use
of them, and by this means attained the highest honour." The remark*
able influence which Antonio Pollaiuolo exerted is evident in the works
of nearly all the great masters of the next generation, from Leonardo
and Signorelli to Raphael and Michelangelo. And it would be hard to
over-estimate the importance of his teaching and example on the art of
Botticelli. Without this period of close association with the goldsmith-
painter his style would never have gained its force and virility. He
would never have attained the power to represent action and movement,
which is so marked a feature of his art; above all he would never have
been able to give full expression to the deepest and innermost feelings
of his soul.
Up to this period of his career, Sandro's artistic training had been
conducted on wholly different lines. Both Filippo's teaching and his
own temperament led him in an entirely opposite direction from the
scientific naturalism which lay at the root of Pollaiuolo's methods. He
had grown up in the Gothic traditions of the Giottesque masters ofthe
fourteenth century, which the Carmelite painter had inherited from
Lorenzo Monaco, from Masoino and Fra Angelico. And the ideal and
poetic bent of his own imagination led him to strive above all for beauty
of colouring, for grace of form and charm and sincerity of expression in
his art. 18

THE FORTEZZA
Now in the busy workshop of the Pollaiuoli brothers, in the heart
of Florence, he found himself in an altogether new atmosphere, where
questions of anatomy and foreshortening, the correct drawing of the
nude and the accurate representation of movement, were the problems
which absorbed the artist's thoughts and occupied his whole energy.
Yet such was the commanding personality of the master, such the quick
sympathy and receptivity of the scholar, that Sandro's art for the
moment underwent a transformation. Fra Filippo's pupil caught the
enthusiasm for scientific research that was in the air about him, and
became for the time being a naturalist. The Fortezza, which he painted
while he worked as an assistant in the shop of the Pollaiuoli brothers,
is the best proof of the completeness with which Sandro learnt his new
lessons. This noble figure was executed about the year 1470, as a com
panion to the six Virtues already completed by Antonio and Piero Pol-
laiuolo for the decoration of the Tribunal of Commerce. " As a youth,"
writes Antonio Billi, the oldest of Sandro's biographers, " he painted
in the Mercatanzia a most beautiful Fortezza." Vasari and the anonym
ous writer of the "Codex Gaddiano," both give us the same informa
tion. The Aretine biographer tells us that the painter, while still very
young, painted a Fortezza among the panels of the Virtues which An
tonio and Piero del Pollaiuolo executed in the Mercatanzia of Florence,
and in his notice of the last-named artists, the Anonimo remarks that
Piero painted six Virtues on the walls ofthe Hall of Commerce, but that
the seventh was by the hand of Sandro Botticelli. The writer evidently
derived his information in this instance from a much earlier document,
"Memoriale" ofthe priest Francesco Albertini. In the account of "the
statues and pictures, worthy of being remembered, in this our illustrious
city of Florence," which this learned Canon of S. Lorenzo drew up for
his friend the sculptor Baccio di Montelupo, and printed in August,
15 10, he gives a full description of the contents of the Palazzo Pubblico,
and adds the following note: " I have not mentioned the six figures of
the Virtues which are in the Arte della Mercantia by the hand of Pietro
Pollaiuolo. The seventh is by Sandro." Albertini, who attended the
celebrated scholar Giovanni Pico della Mirandola in his dying moments
and witnessed his last will, was probably personally acquainted with
the painter, whom he mentions in this familiar way, and wrote the
l9

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
notice while he was alive, since this " Memoriale " was only printed
three months after Sandro's death.
There can, therefore, be no doubt that the figure in question was
painted by Sandro, although in this instance he followed the pattern set
before him so closely that even Morelli would not accept the panel as
his work. This tall slender maiden, wearing a breast-plate and corslet of
steel and throned in a marble niche, is executed in the same pale colour
ing and sculptural style as the six companion Virtues that were painted
by Piero Pollaiuolo, in all probability from his more illustrious brother's
designs. The embroideries of her red robes and the coloured marbles of
her throne are the same, and show how literally he copied his master's
model. But in the arrangement of the draperies we see the touch of
another hand, while the attitude of the figure and expression of the
face are altogether Sandro's own. The drooping head and long nervous
fingers clasping the mace that rests on her lap. The patient and weary
but still resolute air all help to give that expression of restraint, of
brave and steadfast endurance, which makes Botticelli's Fortitude
unlike that of any other painter. Let us hear once more what Ruskin
said of her long ago in an eloquent passage in his " Mornings in
Florence": " What is chiefly notable in her is— that you would not, if
you had to guess who she was, take her for Fortitude at all. Every
body else's Fortitudes announce themselves clearly and proudly. They
have tower-like shields and lion-like helmets— and stand firm astride on
their legs— and are confidently ready for all comers. Yes; that is your
common Fortitude. Very grand, though common. But not the highest
by any means. Ready for all comers, and a match for them, stands the
universal Fortitude;— no thanks to her for standing so steady, then!
But Botticelli's Fortitude is no match, it may be, for any that are
coming. Worn somewhat, and not a little weary, instead of standing
ready for all comers, she is sitting— apparently in reverie, her fingers
playing restlessly and idly-nay, I think-even nervously, about the
hilt of her sword. For her battle is not to begin to-day; nor did it
begin yesterday. Many a morn and even have passed since it began ; and
now-is this to be the ending day of it ? And if this— by what manner
of end? That is what Sandro's Fortitude is thinking, and the playing
nngers about the sword-hilt would fain let it fall, if it might be: and yet
20

A linari.

FORTEZZA.
Uffizi Florence.

ii^iM^b*X'^^^^

Hoirghton.

THK RETURN OF JUDITH.

JUDITH
how sw'ftly ai.d gladly will they close on it,, when the far-off trumpet
blows, which she will hear through all her reverie!"1
It is clear that Sandro's initiation in the school of naturalism, and
even the powerful influence of Antonio Pollaiuolo's genius, could not
quench the poetic spark in the young painter's nature. The same fine
imaginative conception marks the other pictures which he painted at
this period of his career. Foremost among these are the two small
panels on the story oi Judith and Holof ernes, which are now in the
Uffizi Gallery. These little panels are mentioned by Raffaelle Borghini
in his " Riposo," a work written early in the eighteenth century, and
described in the following words : "Two little pictures: in one of which
Holofernes is represented, lying in bed with his head cut off, and his
barons standing around in amazement, and in the other Judith with
the head in a sack. These belonged not long ago to M. Ridolfo Siri-
gatti, and he gave them to the most Serene lady Bianca Capello dei
Medici, our Grand Duchess, hearing that Her Highness wished to
adorn a writing cabinet with pictures and antique statues, and judging
this little work of Botticelli worthy of a place there."2 Even without
this testimony, the authenticity of these precious little works would be
undoubted. In spite of modern repainting, and clumsy restoration, they
bear the unmistakable stamp of Sandro's brain and hand, and were evid
ently executed at a time when he was still strongly influenced by the Polla
iuoli and probably working in their shop. Here Botticelli comes before
us for the first time as the narrator of an historical incident, and tells
his story with dramatic vividness and energy, together with that touch
of poetry and spiritual feeling which are never absent from his creations.
The Return of Judith (No. 1156) especially, is marked by an originality
of conception and charm of execution, which have rendered his version
ofthe old Hebrew legend deservedly popular. We see Judith, clad in
rich apparel, or, as the sacred text describes, "in her garments of glad
ness," bravely decked with bracelets and chains and ornaments, return-
ino- from the camp of the Assyrians across the mountains to Bethulia,
strono" in the might of the great deliverance that she has wrought for
Israel. Her right hand holds the sword with which she has severed the
1 Ruskin's " Mornings in Florence," p. 53.
" " II Riposo," R. Borghini, vol. iii, p. 352.
21
\

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
neck of Holofernes; in her left she bears an olive-branch, the token of
peace, as she walks lightly and swiftly across the open hillside, followed
by her faithful handmaiden Abra, carrying the bottle of wine and cruse
of oil in one hand, and the head of Plolofernes in the sack on her head.
In the vall^-- '- Aow, on the banks of a broad river, we see the walls and
gates of the city and the groups of armed horsemen riding out to meet
her. The figure of Judith

bears a strong likeness to
the Fortezza. She has the
same long neck, high cheek
bones, and peculiar type of
feature. Her eyes have the
same wistful look; her
countenance wears the same
expression of gentle sad
ness, and forms a striking
contrast to the eager, intent
air of her serving-maid,
whose gaze is fixed in silent
devotion on the mistress for
whose sake she has dared
to meet danger and death.
The picture has suffered
much from the .restorer,
who has altered the position
of Judith's right foot, but
has not succeeded in effacing
the trace of the original
pose. He has also repainted
most of the landscape and part of the draperies without, however, de
stroying the charm of the colour— the delicate mauve tints of -Judith's
robe and the orange hues of her maid's coarser skirts. But the most
striking thing in the group is the new sense of life and movement that
is everywhere perceptible— the quick, gliding step of Judith herself, the
breeze that stirs the folds of her garments and catches her servant's veil
and the sack that rests on her head. Here we see signs of the new power
22

Photograph.— Hoiighton.\
THE RETURN OF JUDITH
(Uffizi)

HOLOFERNES
and skill which Sandro had gained in the bottega of the Pollaiuoli, and
realize the advance towards the fuller expression of his own individuality
which he had made in the last few years.
The second subject, that of Holofernes lying dead in his Tent
(No. 1 158), afforded him one of those opportunities for the diplay of
anatomical knowledge and mastery of the nude which were eagerly
sought after by the painters of the scientific school in Florence. Here
the headless corpse of the murdered warrior is seen on the couch in his
tent, with the curtains drawn back and the Assyrian captains and soldiers
looking, with consternation on their faces, at the horrible sight. The scene
in all its ghastly details is painted with dramatic truth and power, and the
pitying expression on the face of the servant who stands on the right,
holding his master's sword and gazing on the dead form lying there, is
admirably rendered. The horse with its splendid trappings and arched
neck in the background, and the rich costumes and armour of the
warriors are cleverly imitated from the work of the goldsmith-painters,
and in the glimpse of distant trees and fields, seen under the uplifted
curtains of the tent, we have one of those picturesque touches revealing
that instinctive love of beauty which no amount of naturalistic teaching
could destroy. In connection with Botticelli's panels of Judith and
Holofernes, we must not fail to mention the interesting announce
ment that has been lately made by Signor Gustavo Frizzoni, the well-
known art-critic and distinguished follower of Morelli. This eminent
connoisseur has recently discovered a third panel on the Story of
Judith, in which he recognizes the hand of Botticelli.1 In this little
panel, which is only 36 centimetres high by 20 inches, and has all
the finish and delicacy of a miniature, now belongs to the Kaufmann
collection at Berlin. The Jewish heroine is represented issuing from
the tent of Holofernes, bearing her sword in one hand and the head
of her victim in the other. Her parted lips seem to utter a song of
triumph to the God who has given her the victory, and the freedom
and grace of her movement recalls the figure of Sandro's Primavera.
This picture, in Signor Frizzoni's opinion, belongs to the painter's
riper years, and was painted at a time when he had acquired full
mastery over technique and composition. It would be interesting to
1 " L'Arte," September, 1902, vol. v, p. 292.
21

SANDRO BOTTICELLI

know more of its history and to compare it with the other works of
Botticelli. The martyrdom of St. Sebastian was another subject which, like
the heroic deed of Judith, had an especial attraction for the Florentines
of those days. The most famous example of the subject is the large
altar-piece which Antonio Pollaiuolo himself executed in 1475, for the
Chapel of the Pucci family in the Church of
the Annunziata, and which was bought by the
trustees of the National Gallery in the year 1857,
from the representative of that noble family, the
Marchese Pucci of Florence. We know how
eloquent Vasari waxes in his description of the
marvellous way in which the painter succeeded
in imitating nature in his representation of the
i archer drawing his bow; "you see the veins
and muscles swelling and the breath being held
back! " And the work, Vasari adds, as we can
well believe, "was more praised than any other
ever painted by Antonio." But even before An
tonio finished his great altar-piece for the Pucci,
Botticelli had painted a St. Sebastian of his own
for the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. This
panel, the " Anonimo " tells us, was completed
by Sandro in January, 1474; and Vasari further
informs us. that a San Sebastz'ano was amonp-
the most remarkable of the works which Botti
celli painted for Lorenzo dei Medici. Sandro
may have seen Antonio's cartoon for the Pucci
St. Sebastian, and the sight may have moved
him to emulate the great artist's admired work. This picture so far
resembles Pollaiuolo's masterpiece, that the figure ofthe saint is repre
sented of the size of life, bound to the trunk of a tree, and the modell
ing was sufficiently in Antonio's style for the picture to be ascribed to
that painter during many years by the Directors of the Berlin Gallery.
But, as Crowe and Cavalcaselle, we believe, were the first to recognize,
in other respects, the treatment of the subject shows a marked differ-
24

Photograph —Hanfstaengl. ]
ST. SEBASTIAN
(Berlin Museum)

THE CHIGI MADONNA

ence, and the hand of Sandro is evident in the ideal beauty of the face
and the serene grace of the youthful martyr who stands there, as it
were, unconscious ofthe six arrows with which he is pierced. If in the
glad and joyous movement of Judith Botticelli had shown his power
of representing action, in this St. Sebastian he proved that he could
equally well delineate the figure in repose. The romantic expression of
this youthful martyr with
the regular features and
clusters of curls round his
brow, is heightened by the
poetic charm of the land
scape background, with its
steep cliffs and lofty towers
on the shores of a distant
sea. This landscape was
to be repeated with slight
variations in many other
fifteenth-century pictures,
and was to serve as a model
for more than one of San
dro's contemporaries in the
days to come. X
Closely akin to these
works is the beautiful early
Madonna which Morelli
discovered in a forgotten
corner on the ground-floor
of Prince Chigi's palace in
Rome. Since then, its sale and removal from Italy has been the sub
ject of a notorious lawsuit, and the picture is now the property of
Mrs. L L. Gardner of Boston, in the United States. Before its de
parture for America, the panel underwent a thorough and judicious
cleanino-, which brought fresh beauties to light and displayed its
admirable preservation. This of itself would suffice to heighten its
value and make it doubly rare among Botticelli's paintings. But
there is a youthful charm and naivete about this little work, a delicacy
25 E

By permission of Messrs. P. and D. Colnaghi.]
THE "CHIGI" MADONNA

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
and refinement of execution, together with a mystic vein of poetry
which renders it exceptionally attractive. The composition is altogether
original and reveals the thoughtful and spiritual cast of Sandro's imagi
nation even in those early days. A boy-angel robed in green, with a
wreath of bay-leaves on his fair locks, is in the act of presenting a
bunch of purple grapes and ears of wheat to the Child, who rests on
his mother's knee. The Virgin looks down jQer^sjyelx as she plucks one
of the ripe ears of corn, and muses thoughtfully, over those symbols of
the Eucharist, while the Child in her arms lifts his little hand in bless
ing. Already the shadow of coming agony, some dim foreboding of
the Cross and Passion, is clouding her soul with sadness, and the
mysterious smile on the angel's face bids us see in this offering a pro
phetic type of the bread and wine of the Great Sacrifice. The attitude
of the Madonna, seated before the open casement with her plump, rosy
babe in her arms, the soft rose and pale blue tints of her draperies, the
transparent veil on her rippling hair, and the charming glimpse of
wooded hills and winding stream through the window, all recall Fra
Filippo's style, and show us that Sandro had forgotten none of his first
master's lessons. But, on the other hand, in his attempt to obtain
structural completeness, in the fine modelling of the forms, and especi
ally that of the angel's face, Botticelli shows how great was the
progress which he had made since he left Fra Filippo's shop, and
comes nearer to Pollaiuolo than in any other of his works. His tech
nical proficiency, it must be confessed, is still incomplete; there are
marked defects of drawing in the Virgin's hands, which are, as is often
the case in Sandro's pictures, decidedly too large and out of proportion
with the rest of the figure. But in spite of these obvious faults, the
Chigi Madonna remains one of the most interesting of Botticelli's early
works, and deserves to rank among the most typical and fascinating
creations of Florentine painters in the fifteenth century.

26

CHAPTER IV
Andrea del Verrocchio. — His influence on Botticelli. — Madonnas ascribed to Sandro at Naples
and in S. Maria Nuova. — Ulmann's theory on this subject rejected by Morelli and others.
'—Leonardo da Vinci. — His friendship with Botticelli. — References to the painter in his
writings. — Luca Pacioli. — Influence of Leonardo on Sandro's art.- — Botticelli invited to
Pisa. — His trial picture left unfinished. — He returns to Florence. — Tondo of the Adoration
ofthe Magi in the National Gallery.
THE two chief tendencies which marked the course of Florentine
art in the first half of the fifteenth century, met, as we have seen,
in the work of Sandro Botticelli. On the one side he inherited the
traditions of Quattrocento masters combined with the fertile invention
and emotional feeling of Fra Filippo Lippi, on the other he was drawn
into the current of the scientific movement in the bottega of the Pollaiuoli,
and acquired his knowledge of structural design, and of the accurate
representation of objects, from the goldsmith-painters. Yet a third
influence, according to some critics, is to be traced in Botticelli's early
works— that of Andrea del Verrocchio, the contemporary and in some
respects the rival of the Pollaiuoli. Like Antonio and Piero, Andrea
was a goldsmith and sculptor in the first place, and only a painter in
the second place, and, like his great scholar Leonardo, he was a diligent
student of geometry and mathematics as well as an accomplished
musician. An assistant of Donatello in his boyhood, he succeeded the
famous sculptor in the favour of the Medici and was employed to
execute the tombs of Giovanni and Piero dei Medici, while Sandro was
painting his Fortezza and working in the bottega oi the Pollaiuoli. So
vigorous a personality may well have exerted some influence on the
impressionable young artist, but we cannot think there is any reason
to suppose that Botticelli was as intimately associated with Verrocchio
as some German critics have declared. The late Professor Ulmann, for
instance, whose able biography of Botticelli appeared ten years ago,
27

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
was strongly of opinion that Sandro worked for some years as Andrea's
assistant, and detected the marks of this master's influence in a whole
group of works which he assigned to Botticelli. But although Professor
Steinmann and several English-Italian writers, including Signor Supino,
have adopted this theory, and recognize Andrea's types in the faces of
Botticelli's Madonnas and children, their contention can hardly be
maintained. For the very pictures in which Dr. Ulmann and his
followers see the broad forehead, heavy eyelids, strongly arched eye
brows, wide nostrils and full lips of Verrocchio's Virgins, and the blunt,
unrefined forms of his babies, are those which a more careful and
searching criticism has pronounced to be unworthy of Sandro's hand.
The Madonna of the Rose, however, which bears a certain resemblance
to the Fortezza, and is also accepted as a genuine Botticelli by Dr.
Bode, was rejected by Morelli, who pointed out that the body of the
Child was weak in modelling, and that the form of the hand and ear
were unlike those of the master, while both in expression and move
ment, the figures were too devoid of life to be the work of Sandro.
Again, both the Madonna and Child with Angels, in the Museum of
Naples, and the somewhat similar group formerly in the Hospital
of Santa Maria Nuova in Florence and now in the Uffizi, which
Dr. Ulmann and Professor Steinmann bring forward as proofs that
at this period of his life Sandro followed Verrocchio unreservedly,
are generally recognized as being inferior in style and quality to the
other early works that we possess from his hand. In an able essay
which has been lately republished, Mr. Berenson has convincingly
shown that both of these Madonnas which so clearly " betray the hand
of the imitator rather than that of the inventor of a style," are the work
of a pupil of Botticelli's to whom he has given the name of Amico
di Sandro. The more closely we consider these Madonnas, the more we shall
see how far they fall short of genuine works of this period, such, for
instance, as the Judith or the Chigi Madonna, and with their rejection
the argument of Sandro's training in Verrocchio's shop falls to the
ground. But although there is no reason to think that Botticelli was
ever one of Andrea's assistants, he was no doubt familiar with the great
master's works. Verrocchio's bottega, which was one of the largest
28

LEONARDO
and most active in Florence, stood in the Cow-market, close to that of
the Pollaiuoli, and Sandro and his comrades Avere doubtless intimately
acquainted with all that was passing in the rival workshop. They knew
the commissions which Messer Andrea received from wealthy patrons,
and heard of each new picture or bronze which was executed under his
direction, especially when, as in the case of the silver reliefs for the
retable of the Baptistery, he was employed on the same works as
Antonio Pollaiuolo. They saw the golden ball and cross for the summit
of Brunellesco's cupola brought out of Verrocchio's bottega, and witnessed
the memorable scene described by Luca Landucci in his Diary, when,
on the 30th of May, 147 1, they were placed on the top of the Duomo,
to the solemn chanting of the " Te Deum."1 And there was one at
least of Andrea's apprentices with whom Sandro was on very friendly
terms. This was Leonardo da Vinci, the son of the well-known notary
Ser Piero, who had been apprenticed to Verrocchio about the time that
Botticelli left Fra Filippo's service and returned to Florence. In the
year 1472, Leonardo was admitted into the Guild of Painters, but he
remained with Andrea several years longer, and was still working under
him in the month of June, 1476. Although eight years younger than
Sandro, Verrocchio's pupil already gave signs of the surprising genius
that was to make him supreme among Florentine masters, and both his
personal charm and his literary and musical tastes must have appealed
in an especial manner to the future painter of the Primavera and
illustrator of Dante. " The radiance of his countenance," writes Vasari,
" rejoiced the saddest heart," and even dumb animals felt the fascination
of his presence. The grace and refinement of his creations, the infinite
variety and depth of his thoughts, could not fail to excite Sandro's
interest. And the two young painters had one great aim in common
and believed, as Leonardo notes in his "Trattato " that a good painter's
chief object was to represent not only bodily forms but the thoughts
of man's heart. Many were the discussions which the two friends
had over the problems of perspective and technique which were occupy
ing the thoughts of the men of that generation. In the pages 01
Leonardo's "Codex Atlanticus," still preserved in the Ambrosian
1 " Diario,'' p. n.
29

/

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
Library, there is an evident allusion to one of these discussions.
"Sandro!" he exclaims, "you do not say why the second row of
objects appear in our eyes lower than the third." Leonardo, as Signor
Edmondo Solmi remarks,1 was in the habit of jotting down on paper
any ideas that came into his head, and in this passage, occurring as it
does in a series of fragmentary notes on perspective, the writer is no
doubt referring to some animated conversation on the subject with his
old friend. The mention of Botticelli in this connection recalls a passage in
the writings of Fra Luca Pacioli, in which he speaks of our painter as
one of the few living artists who was thoroughly familiar with the
science of perspective. In his treatise " Summa De Arithmetica e
Geometria," published at Venice in 1494, this Umbrian friar, who was
so intimately associated with Leonardo during his long residence at
Milan, after speaking of his illustrious fellow-countryman, Piero dei
Franceschi, as the foremost master of perspective then living, goes on to
mention other distinguished painters who have "often held colloquies
on this subject." "Such, for instance, are in Venice, the brothers
Giovanni and Gentile Bellini, and ih Florence Alexandro Boticelli,
Phylippino and Domenico Grillandaio, as well as Perugino, Luca of
Cortona, Andrea Mantegna, Melozzo da Forli and his pupil Marco
Palmezzano, whose works are all alike.^adrnixable_iii_perspective and
proportion, and by their-style«*ndjrnanner of painting appear in our
eyes to be not merely human but divine." 2
"The other passage in- whierTLeonardo alludes to Botticelli is more
generally known. It is to be found in the " Trattato della Pittura," and
is the more remarkable since Sandro is the only painter whose name is
mentioned in the course of the treatise. This time the writer recalls
some occasion on which Botticelli had spoken disparagingly of the
study of landscape as a secondary thing, which could easily be acquired,
and was unworthy of serious effort on the painter's part. The remark
/ is singular as coming from a master who has bestowed so much care on
his backgrounds, and has painted such fair and varied landscapes in the
Florentine Madonnas and Roman frescoes, in the Birth of Venus in the
1 "Leonardo," Edmondo Solmi, p. 12.
2 Quoted by Schmarsow, " Melozzo da Forli,'' p. 390.
30

LEONARDO
Uffizi, the Primavcra of the Accademia, or the Adoration of the Magi
at St. Petersburg. We can only suppose that Sandro must have
dropped this contemptuous remark when his thoughts were intent on
some great theme, or some failure to realize his conception had plunged
him into a fit of despondency.
"That painter," writes Leonardo, "will not be universal, who does
not care equally for all things which belong to painting. For instance,
if a man does not care for landscapes, he will count landscape-painting
to be a short and simple process, as our Botticelli, who said that this
study was vain, because by throwing a sponge full of different colours
against a wall, you would leave a stain on that wall which would have
the effect of a fine landscape. And that painter," adds Leonardo, not
without a touch of scorn, "would make very bad landscapes (tristissimi
paesi)." In spite of these differences of opinion, the two young painters had
in reality more in common than any other of the rising generation who
were working in the rival botteghe ofthe Vacchereccia. However differ
ent their aims and methods were, they were alike in their constant
endeavour to attain ideal beauty and to give expression to the inner life
of the soul. There can be little doubt that they influenced each other
mutually, although the precise nature and degree of that influence is a
problem that still remains to be solved. In his biography of Leonardo,
the late M. Miintz has entered fully into the subject and pointed
out several important motives which he considers Botticelli to have
borrowed from his friend, to which we shall refer later. But certain
characteristics of Sandro's early works undoubtedly bear a strong like
ness to the style of Leonardo. The expressive features of his St. Sebas
tian, and of the angel with the strange smile in the Chigi Madonna,
their thick clusters of curly locks, recall alike the heads of Leonardo
and of his master Verrocchio, and would be pronounced by German
critics to afford additional proof that Sandro worked at one time in
Andrea's shop. This at least we may safely assert. A close communion
of spirit bound the two artists together at this period of their career, and
the evident efforts which Sandro was already making to express the finer
and more subtle shades of feeling in his art, may have been in a measure
due to his intercourse with Leonardo. 3i

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
In 1472, the same year in which Leonardo became a member of the
Guild of Florentine Painters, Fra Diamante, the Carmelite assistant
who had accompanied Fra Filippo Lippi to Spoleto, returned to Florence
after finishing his dead master's work in the Duomo of that city. He
brought with him Filippino, the Friar's little son by the nun Lucrezia
Buti, and placed the boy in the charge of Sandro Botticelli to learn the
art of painting, as his father had desired. By this time Sandro was
evidently an independent master, with a workshop of his own, and in
the following year his merit, as we have seen, was sufficient to attract
the notice of Lorenzo dei Medici. His reputation soon spread beyond
the walls of his native city, and a few months after he had completed
his picture of St. Sebastian, he received an invitation from the Directors
of the Duomo works at Pisa, who were desirous to see the decoration of
the Campo Santo in that city completed without further delay.
During the last six years, another Florentine master had been en
gaged in continuing the work begun in the previous century by Tuscan
artists. This was Benozzo Gozzoli, who had also long enjoyed the
favour of the Medici, and had recently decorated the chapel. of their
palace with his famous frescoes of the Procession of the Magi. But
whether the Pisan magnates were not altogether satisfied with Benozzo's
work, or whether they were anxious for the more speedy accomplish
ment of this great task, they invited Botticelli to Pisa, in order to judge
for themselves if his powers were equal to so important an undertaking.
Accordingly, in May, 1474, he paid a short visit to Pisa and received a
florin for the expenses of his journey from the Superintendent of the
Duomo works. The result of this first interview was that Sandro aereed
to paint a picture ofthe Assumption for the Chapel of the Incoronata
in the Cathedral, on condition that, if the work met with the approval
ofthe ecclesiastical authorities, he would be employed to paint the same
subject on the walls of the Campo Santo.
In July Sandro returned to Pisa and began to execute this honour
able commission. During the next three months the archives of the
Cathedral Chapter contain frequent entries of supplies of corn given to
Sandro, surnamed Botticelli, as well as of payments of money for the
purchase of ultramarine, which he had procured from Florence. But
after September, 1474, these entries cease altogether, and Botticelli's
32

THE ADORATION
name no longer appears in the registers.1 We can only conclude that
the work was abandoned and the master's picture of the Assumption left
unfinished, because, as Vasari writes, it did not satisfy either the painter
or his employers. In all probability he was glad to return to Florence,
where his reputation was already secured, and where a series of new and
important works was awaiting him.
Soon after his return he may have executed the large tondo of the
Adoration of the Magi, which is now in the National Gallery. The
subject had become popular in Florence ever since, in 1423, Gentile da
Fabriano, theUmbrian master, "whose hand," Michelangelo said, "was
as gentle as his name," painted his great Adoration by order of Palla
Strozzi, for the monks of Vallombrosa. Gentile had treated the old Chris
tian story after the fashion of a mediaeval romance, surrounding it with
all the pomp and splendour of those pageants that were so dear to the
Florentine heart. He had borrowed motives from the Court life of the
day, and introduced a gay troop of knights and pages, dogs and horses
in the festal train. His example had been quickly followed by other
artists, and Benozzo Gozzoli, in particular, had set forth the procession
of the Three Kings in the most sumptuous style on the walls of the
Medici Chapel. Sandro's own master, Fra Filippo, had been one of the
first to adopt these fashionable motives. In one of his earliest works,
the tondo in Sir Frederick Cook's collection at Richmond, the Carmelite
friar introduced a vast number of richly-attired personages, with horses
and dogs, into the scene, and at the same time cleverly arranged his
composition to suit the circular form of his picture. This shape, which
was to become so popular among Florentine artists in the latter partofthe
century, had hitherto been chiefly employed by sculptors, and was com
monly used for bas-reliefs by Donatello and Luca della Robbia, but
until this time had never, as far as we know, been adopted in painting.
Botticelli's love for this subject was still greater than that of his con
temporaries, if we are to judge from the frequency with which he painted
it. Many are the versions which he has left us of this his favourite story,
executed, with the most different intentions and placed in the midst of
the most varied surroundings. Sometimes he lays the scene in a rocky
wilderness, sometimes in the heart of a pine-forest. In some cases he
1 L. B. Supino, " II Campo Santo di Pisa," p. 28.
33 F

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
introduces classical remains and Roman arches, in other instances he
allows the eye to roam over wide landscapes with rocky heights and
distant seas. In the Uffizi altar-piece the legend of the Three Kings
becomes an apotheosis of the house of Medici; in a later work it affords
Sandro an opportunity for celebrating Savonarola's dream of a New
Jerusalem on earth. Last of all, we see it transformed into a mystic
vision of the Celestial Country, where bright-hued seraphs sing their
glad carols and dance hand hand-in-hand on the clouds of heaven, and
angels welcome martyred saints to their embraces.
Two at least of these manifold versions of the subject belong to the
early days, when the influence of the Pollaiuoli was still the predominant
feature of his art. The first was, as we have seen, the long panel in the
National Gallery (No. 592), painted about the year 1468. The second,
which now belongs to the same collection, was evidently executed a few
years later, and probably only finished after Sandro's return from Pisa
in 1474. Like the earlier panel, this Adoration is still ascribed in the
official catalogue to Filippino Lippi, and Dr. Richteris of opinion that it
was the work of a follower of Botticelli rather than of the painter himself.
But both Crowe and Cavalcaselle, who noticed the picture while it was
still in the Fuller-Maitland collection, and the best Italian authorities,
Morelli and Signor Frizzoni, as well as Dr. Ulmann and Mr. Beren
son, have all declared it to be by the hand of Botticelli, and there seems
no reason to doubt the attribution. This may indeed be the identical
tondo oi the Epiphany which Vasari saw in the house of the Pucci, that
illustrious family which was so closely connected with the house of
Medici, and Botticelli's work may have been ordered by the same
Antonio Pucci who gave Antonio Pollaiuolo the commission for his
great St. Sebastian.
Here Sandro, following his master's example, for the first time
adopts the circular form, which he was afterwards to use with such
excellent effect in some of his most popular compositions. As yet, how
ever, he had not attained sufficient mastery to deal with this vast number
of figures, and the general effect is somewhat confusedand over-crowded.
The Virgin and Child, St. Joseph, and the Three Kings who kneel
before the Infant Christ, are placed exactly in the centre of the com
position, an innovation which was afterwards adopted and improved
34

THE ADORATION
upon by Leonardo. In the foreground are groups of youths conversing
together with animated faces, and foreshortened horses with rich trap
pings and harness, in the style which Sandro had learnt from the
Pollaiuoli. Other decorative details and homely incidents recall the
genre painting of Fra Filippo and his school, and the crowded com
positions of Benozzo Gozzoli. The long-tailed peacock perched on the
marble column, the dog sitting upon his haunches by his master's side,
as well as the trumpeters and buildings in the background, seem to have
been directly taken from the frescoes in the Campo Santo of Pisa, where
Botticelli had lately seen Benozzo at work. But Sandro's individuality
breaks out, as is commonly the case, in many of the types and attitudes
which he employs, and notably in the two figures in the left-hand corner
of the tondo, which bear a marked resemblance to a similar group in the
more famous Adoration which he painted a year or two later for the
church of Santa Maria Novella. Before we go on to speak of this altar-
piece, however, we must record a fresh commission which Sandro received
from another quarter which was to bring him into close connection with
the Medici and to lead to new and important developments in his career.

35

CHAPTER V
1474— 1476
The House of Medici.— Cosimo and Piero's relations with artists.— Lorenzo il Magnifico—
his love of art and letters.— The Tournament of 1469.— His brother Giuliano.— Botticelli
paints a banner of Pallas for Giuliano's Tournament.— Description of the painting in con
temporary documents.— Inventories ofthe Medici Collections.— Portraits of Lucrezia Torna-
buoni. of Simonetta Vespucci, of Giuliano dei Medici.
WHEN Sandro Botticelli first opened a workshop and entered on
his career as an independent master, a new and brilliant era
was dawning for his native city of Florence. Under the rule of Cosimo
dei Medici and his son, Piero il Gottoso, both art and learning had
received the most liberal encouragement. Never before had there been
a time when public buildings, churches and palaces, were raised and
decorated on so large and splendid a scale, never were scholars and
artists so generously patronized and so highly honoured as in these
days. The members of this illustrious house not only lavished their
wealth on monumental buildings and works of art, but took a keen
personal interest in the men whom they employed. Humanists and
poets were admitted into the family circle of the Palazzo in the Via
Larga, and more than one artist of genius shared Cosimo's intimacy
and was numbered among the friends of " the great man at the corner
house." Brunellesco was deeply attached to him, Michelozzo followed
him in his exile to Venice, and when Donatello died he bested his
friends with his last breath to bury him close to his great patron's tomb
in the church of San Lorenzo, so that he might be near Cosimo in
death as he had been in life. Even Fra Filippo's freaks and follies only
r.c-oked a smile from this indulgent patron, who took the lively
Carmelite friar under his especial protection, and when those about
him urged that the painter's delinquencies should be punished, replied
that men of his marvellous genius were angels of light and must not
be treated like beasts of burden! " A man intelligent above all others,
36

THE HOUSE OF MEDICI
full of devotion to God, just and fair towards his fellows, moderate in
his own wishes and ambitions, active in his private affairs, but still
more prudent and careful in the public business. He did not live for
himself alone, but for the service of God and his country." Such was
the character of the great citizen which Marsilio Ficino, the humanist
whom Cosimo had placed at the head of his newly-founded Platonic
Academy, wrote to his pupil, the young Lorenzo dei Medici, after his
grandfather's death.
Cosimo's elder son, Piero, shared his father's refined tastes, and
in spite of continual ill-health, took keen interest in the artists whom
he employed. From his favourite villa of Careggi, where he was con
stantly confined to his couch by acute rheumatic gout, he addressed
letters to the painters who were at work in the Medici Palace and per
sonally superintended the decoration of the chapel and halls. The
kindliness of his nature and the affection which he inspired in the
artists who were in his service is shown by the letters of such men as
Benozzo Gozzoli or Domenico Veneziano, who address Piero as their
dearest friend — Amico mio singularissimo — and make the most anxious
inquiries after his health. But Piero only survived his father five years,
and both his own sufferings and political troubles both at home and
abroad interfered with many of his artistic schemes. He died on the
3rd of September, 1469, at the age of fifty-three, and his elder son
Lorenzo succeeded with general consent to the position which his father
and grandfather had occupied at the head of the State. At this time
Lorenzo, who had been born on the ist of January, 1449, was just
twenty-one, and had already given signs of the talents and wisdom
which made his future career so remarkable. Under the care of his able
and accomplished mother, Lucrezia Tornabuoni, both he and his
younger brother Giuliano had received an excellent education and had
been trained by the foremost scholars in all the learning of the day.
Gentile Becchi of Urbino, the eminent Latinist, Marsilio Ficino, the
great philosopher and translator jrf_Plato, and^ristoforo Landino, the
learned commentator of Virgil, and Dante were his principal teachers.
Luigi Pulci, the poet of the " Morgante '""and the witty writer of epi
grams, Matteo Franco, were among his constant companions. His
genuine love of poetry found expression in many charming verses, and
37

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
Pico della Mirandola, who was no mere courtly flatterer, declared the
Magnifico's poems to be equal to those of Dante and Petrarch. At the
same time, Lorenzo's keen sense of natural enjoyment made him take
delight in pleasures and sports of every description, in music and
dancing, in hunting and all knightly exercises. The tournament which
was held on the piazza in front of Santa Croce at the Carnival of 1469,
a few months before Lorenzo's marriage to Clarice Orsini, was the
most brilliant spectacle which had been seen in Florence for many a
long day. On that occasion the young Medici rode into the lists in a
gorgeous suit of red and white silk mounted on a horse given him by
King Ferrante of Naples, with red and white velvet trappings em
broidered with pearls. The silken scarf across his breast was embroidered
with his device, Le temps revient, wreathed in fresh and withered roses.
"In order to follow the custom of the day and do as others," says
Lorenzo in the short memoir which he wrote in 147 1, " I held a tourna
ment on the Piazza Santa Croce with great splendour and at much
expense. I find that it cost about 10,000 gold ducats. Although! was
not very strong or skilled in jousting, the first prize was awarded to
me, a helmet inlaid with silver and adorned by a figure of Mars."
But even at this early age Lorenzo did not waste his days in mere
amusements. During the last years of his father's life he took a
prominent part in the management of public business, and displayed a
prudence and capacity which fitted him to assume the independent
control of the State. All eyes were now turned to him as the natural
successor to the exalted but unofficial post which Cosimo and Piero
had held during the last thirty^five years. Lorenzo himself has described
the offer which was made him by the leading citizens of Florence in a
passage in his memoir, which is of interest: "On the second day after
my father's death the most distinguished officers of the State and
the chiefs of the ruling party came to our house to express their
sorrow for our loss and to request me to undertake the administration
of the government of the city as my father and grandfather had done
till now. This proposal seeming contrary to my natural instincts—
for I was then only twenty-one— and entailing much labour and
danger, I accepted it very unwillingly, and only for the sake of
protecting our friends and fortunes, since in Florence it is difficult to
38

IL MAGNIFICO
possess wealth without retaining political influence." "So far," he
adds, writing two years later, "everything has succeeded to the
honour and satisfaction of all parties, not because of any wisdom on
my part, but by the grace of God and owing to the wise measures
adopted by my fathers."
The young Medici, it soon became evident, as Guicciardini remarks,
intended to be lord and master in the city, and began to assert himself
on every occasion. "A ruler," he has said in his drama of San Giovanni
and Paolo, " must establish his authority on a firm footing in the first
few days of his reign." Lorenzo certainly acted on this principle. He
was convinced that his sway was necessary for the good of the State,
and neglected no means of strengthening his position. From the moment
that he took up the reins of government he determined to surround
himself with a splendid court, and showed himself a generous and
enlightened patron of art and letters. Marsilio Ficino and the older
humanists who had enjoyed Cosimo's favour were invited to hold
meetings of their Academy in the palace of the Via Larga, and celebrated
Plato's birthday in the gardens of the Medici villa at Careggi, while the
younger scholars and poets were attracted to Florence by a patron whose
love of antiquity was as genuine as their own, and who himself wrote
Latin verses worthy to rank with their best productions. Niccolo Valori,
one of his contemporaries, describes the great rejoicing with which
Lorenzo received the newly-discovered bust of Plato that was sent him
by Girolamo Roscio, and tells us how, when he was oppressed with the
burden of public affairs, the contemplation of some noble Greek marble
would suffice to restore his serenity of mind. When he went to Rome in
.1471, to assist at the coronation of Pope Sixtus IV, the most memor
able thing recorded in his memoir is that he brought back with him
two marble busts of Augustus and Agrippa with which the Pope pre
sented him, as well as a chalcedony cup and a number of medals and
cameos which he had purchased there. So fine was his taste in these
matters and so passionate his love for Greek and Roman art, that at
the time of his death the collection of antique marbles and gems in the
Medici Palace and in the Casino and gardens of San Marco was the
finest in the world. From his early youth, his biographer Fabroni tells
us, the title of Magnifico, which was commonly used in addressing
39

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
princes and nobles, was applied to Lorenzo by universal consent in
recognition of the grandeur of his character and the liberality of his
actions. Architects and sculptors, painters and goldsmiths, alike found
in the Magnifico a splendid and generous patron who had inherited the
grand traditions of his ancestors, and grudged no expenditure on public
monuments and works of art.
" I find from a quarto account book in my possession," wrote
Lorenzo in a memorandum of 1472, "that from 1434 down to the
present, time we have spent an almost incredible sum of money, amount
ing to 663,755 ducats in public works, charities and contributions to
the taxes. But I do not regret this expenditure, although many persons
think that we should have done better to have kept part of this money
in our own purses, for I consider the money to have been well spent,
since it has helped to promote great public objects."
Nor was Lorenzo's patronage confined to Florentines of distinc
tion. Scholars and painters in all parts of Italy begged him to honour
them with commissions or to help them in bad times and difficult
moments. We find Andrea Mantegna writing from the court of the
Gonzagas at Mantua to place his services at the Magnifico Lorenzo's
disposal, and at the same time beg for a trifling gratuity to enable him
to build a new house for himself and his family. His advice on artistic
questions was eagerly sought after by other princes. The Kings of
Portugal and Hungary, of France and Naples, Ercole d'Este, Lodovico
Gonzaga and Lodovico Sforza alike applied to him for architects and
painters to build and adorn their palaces. It was Lorenzo who recom
mended. Leonardo to the Moro and Luca Fancelli and Giuliano di San
Gallo to the King of Naples, and who sent Antonio Pollaiuolo and
Filippino Lippi to Rome. "Since the Magnifico has sent the man to us,"
exclaimed Cardinal Caraffa when the Florentine painter arrived, "I would
not change him for Apelles himself!" A patron with knowledge so wide
and perception so keen could not fail to appreciate the genius of Sandro
Botticelli, and to recognize how admirably fitted he was by nature for
the decorative work which Lorenzo and his cultured circle required from
the painters of their age. Both as the favourite pupil of Fra Filippo
Lippi, that spoilt child of the Medici, whose talents had been held in
such high esteem by Cosimo and his sons, and as the skilled assistant
40

GIULIANO
of Antonio Pollaiuolo, who was so constantly employed by three genera
tions of the house of Medici, Sandro needed no introduction to Lorenzo's
notice. Already, towards the close of 1473, the master had, as we have
seen, received an order to paint a St. Sebastian for this august patron.
In the following year, after he had returned from his unsuccessful visit
to Pisa, he received a new commission from the Magnifico's brother,
Giuliano dei Medici.
The second son of Piero was four years younger than Lorenzo, and
was endowed with those personal attractions which his elder brother
lacked. Tall and handsome, active and muscular, he excelled in all
knightly exercises, in riding and wrestling, throwing the spear and
tilting. While Lorenzo was decidedly plain with weak eyes, a broad
nose, large mouth and sallow complexion, Giuliano's fine black eyes,
curling dark hair, olive skin, and animated expression gave him a dis
tinctly attractive and picturesque appearance. Although inferior to
Lorenzo in ability and intellect, he inherited the refined taste of his
family, was fond of music and painting, and wrote poetry which
Poliziano describes as full of thought and feeling. From his boyhood
Giuliano had been the darling of the people, and his reckless courage
in the chase or tournament, his gay manners and courteous bearing
made him a favourite with all classes. Poliziano and Machiavelli both
tell us that he was the idol of the Florentines, and Paolo Giovio speaks
of him as the prince and leader of the gilded youth of his day. But he
was always loyal and affectionate to Lorenzo, and no shadow of jealousy
or suspicion ever seems to have clouded the excellent understanding
that existed between the brothers. While the elder of the two devoted
his time and attention to the management of public affairs, the younger
hunted and jousted and wrote verses in praise of fair ladies, and took a
leadino- part in those pageants and amusements which delighted the
eyes of Florence.
As Lorenzo's Tournament had been given in fulfilment of a promise
which he made to the beautiful Lucrezia Donati, when she gave him a
wreath of violets at Braccio Martelli's wedding feast, so now Giuliano
held a Giostra in honour of another fair lady, "labella Simonetta," the
young wife of his friend, Marco Vespucci. This daughter of a noble
Genoese family, who at sixteen became the bride of Piero Vespucci's
41 G

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
son, one of the most faithful followers of the Medici, had inspired the
handsome Giuliano with a romantic devotion similar to that of Dante
for Beatrice or of Petrarch for Laura. He composed verses in praise of
her beauty and goodness, invoked her name when he rode in the lists,
and made her the object of the Platonic passion which Poliziano
celebrates in his famous poem. Giuliano's Tournament was held on
the 28th of January, 1475, on the same Piazza di Santa Croce where
Lorenzo's Giostra had taken place six years before. Then Piero had
been alive, but now his two sons were the representatives of this illus
trious house, and the stately pageant which gratified the hearts of the
Florentines, afforded a fitting opportunity for celebrating the glories of
the Medici brothers and their accession to supreme power.
Nothing which could add beauty or splendour to the show was
neglected. Signor Poggi has recently published a document, which he
discovered in the Magliabecchiana Library, giving several interesting
details ofthe combatants who took part in the Giostra, and ofthe armour
which they wore and the banners and devices that were borne before
them. Seven youths of the noblest families in Florence, clad in richest
apparel, resplendent with silks and jewels, with pearls and rubies,
entered the lists that day; Pagolo Antonio Soderini, Piero Guicciardini,
the cousin of the historian, who left his books, sorely against his
inclination, and joined in the tourney, at Lorenzo and Giuliano's urgent
entreaty, Benedetto dei Nerli, Luigi della Stufa, Piero degli Alberti and
Giovanni Morelli. Each rider was accompanied by twenty-two youths
in jewelled armour, and followed by a troop of men-at-arms, while a
page in sumptuous attire bore a standard with his chosen device before
him. As in Lorenzo's tournament, each cavalier had the image of his
lady-love represented on his banner, so on this occasion Giuliano and
his rivals each had the effigy of his mistress borne before him. The
best artists in the city were employed, and there was quite a stir in the
workshops along the banks of the Arno. Giuliano's armour and helmet
were exquisitely wrought by Michele Bandinelli of Gaiuole, a talented
goldsmith who served the Medici during many years, and whose
wife, Smeralda, had her portrait painted by one of Botticelli's assistants
about this time. A still more illustrious artist, Andrea del Verrocchio,
painted the banner of another of the competitors, Giovanni Morelli.
42

BANNER OF PALLAS
The figure which he was desired to represent was that of a maiden robed
in white on a crimson ground, with a "spiritello" or winged sprite —
the boy Cupid — armed with his bow, and holding a pot of flowers in
his hand, standing on the rock above. Other ladies, in the forms of
nymphs and goddesses, clad in bright and varied hues, and bearing the
mottoes of the respective knights, were represented on the different
banners. Only Piero Guicciardini, who preferred humanist studies to
the society of fair ladies, chose Apollo slaying the Python for his device.
But Giuliano's mistress was represented in a singularly beautiful and
elaborate style.
" The banner of Giuliano," we read, "was of blue taffeta (canvas),
with the rising sun in the heavens, and in the centre a large figure of
Pallas, wearing a vest of fine gold, a white robe and blue buskins, with
her feet resting on the flames of burning olive branches. On her head
she wore a helmet, under which her rippling locks flowed loose on the
breeze. In her right hand she held a jousting lance, and in her left the
shield of Medusa. Her eyes were fixed on the sun, and in the meadow
of flowers where she stood, was the god of love, bound by golden cords
to the trunk of an olive tree. On the boughs of the tree was written this
motto: " La sans pareille." l
This description of Giuliano's banner agrees closely with the
imagery of Poliziano's famous verses in honour of the Giostra. The
poet speaks of the dream which comes to Giuliano in his sleep, and
tells us how the hero sees a vision of his lady, Simonetta, wearing the
armour of Minerva and the shield of Medusa, while behind her he sees
Cupid bound to the green column of Minerva's happy plant.
Pargli veder feroce la sua donna . . .
Legar Cupido alia verde colonna
Della felice pianta di Minerva.2
And, in his verse, Cupid bids Giuliano look up at the rising sun, on his
lady's banner, the emblem of the glory which he is to win in the fight :
Alza gli occhi, alza Julio a quello fiamma
Che come un sol col suo splendor t' adombra.3
But for us, it is of still greater interest to find how exactly the descrip
tion of the banner corresponds with Vasari's statement, that " Botti-
1 " L'Arte," 1902, p. 71. 2 " Stanze," v. 28. 3 " Stanze," v. 31.
43

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
celli painted a life-sized figure of Pallas standing on a device of burning
branches, in the Medici Palace." From this we may safely conclude
that Giuliano's banner, bearing the figure of his mistress in the form
of Pallas, was painted by Sandro Botticelli in the last months of 1474.
That it was preserved among Lorenzo's most precious treasures we
further learn from the following entry in an Inventory of the works of
art in the Medici Palace, that was taken after the Magnifico's death in
1492, and copied in a similar list bearing the date of 1512:
" In the room of Piero a cloth (panno) set in a gold frame, about
4. braccia high by 2. wide, bearing a figure of Pa  [Pallas] with a
burning shield and an arrow, by the hand of Sandro da Botticelli."1
This Pallas is not to be confounded with the picture ot Pallas sub
duing the Centaur by Sandro's hand that was painted some years later,
after Lorenzo's return from Naples, to celebrate the triumph of the
Medici over their enemies, and was discovered in 1895 by Mr. Spence,
in the Pitti Palace. For, as M. Miintz proceeds to show, this work of
Botticelli's is mentioned in two other Inventories ofthe contents ofthe
Medici Palace, which were taken at a later period, and in both cases is
described as Minerva and a Centaur. The word panno, in the entry of
151 2, clearly refers to the banner carried in front of Giuliano in the
Giostra, and this conclusion is further borne out by the following
entry which comes just below in the same Inventory: "A gilded
jousting-helmet with a figure of Cupid bound to a tree of laurel or
olive." The helmet in question was, no doubt, that which was worn by
Giuliano himself in the Tournament, which is said to have been a
marvel of the goldsmith's art. Unfortunately the banner has shared
the fate which has befallen the great majority of the works that were
painted by Sandro for the Medici and preserved for several generations
in the palace of the Via Larga.
The Giostra was celebrated with triumphant success. Giuliano
made a splendid figure as he rode into the lists that day in his flashing
armour, mounted on the warhorse " Orso," which had been presented
to him by Costanzo Sforza, the lord of Pesaro. There, before the eyes of
his adored mistress, the gallant youth vanquished all his rivals, and bore
1 E. Miintz, "Les Collections des Medicis," p. 86.
44

Houghton.

LA ISELLA MMONKTTA.
Palazzo Pitti, Ft.'nnce.

SIMONETTA VESPUCCI
off the prize, amidst the acclamations of the assembled multitudes.
Botticelli's share in the day's festivity naturally brought him into close
relations with the Medici brothers, and prepared the way for the future
commissions which he received from Lorenzo and the members of his
immediate circle. Vasari mentions two " most beautiful profile heads of
women," which must have been executed in those early days, and which
he had seen among the treasures of the Medici Palace, in the reign of
Duke Cosimo. There was the likeness of Lucrezia Tornabuoni, the
admirable mother to whom Lorenzo was so deeply attached, and whose
death in 1482 he lamented so truly. The other, Vasari tells us, was said
to be the portrait of the " innamorata di Giuliano di Medici," that bella
Simonetta who, as we have already seen, was the lady of his heart and
the Queen of his Tournament. The Vespucci, we know, were among
Botticelli's earliest and most constant patrons. Their palazzo was in
the same parish as Sandro's home, and they had a country house at
Peretola, where the Filipepi also owned property. Vasari tells us that
the artist helped in the decoration oftheir palace, and painted a series of
subjects full of beautiful and animated figures set in richly carved
frames of walnut wood. And a few years after Simonetta's death he
was employed by her kinsman, the ecclesiastic Giorgio Antonio Ves
pucci, to paint a fresco in the parish church of Ognissanti, where the
family had their burial place. So that nothing is more likely than that
Sandro should have painted the portrait of Marco's fair wife, whose
features he had already reproduced in the Pallas of the standard which
Giuliano had proudly borne to the fray on the great day of his Giostra.
Two portraits which, bore the names of these ladies and were not without
a certain relationship in style and execution, were formerly ascribed to
the master and supposed to be the works described by Vasari. One is
the profile bust of a pleasant-looking, fair-haired lady clad in the simple
everyday dress of a Florentine citizen's wife, with an honest, sensible face,
such as we should expect to belong to Lorenzo's wise and large-hearted
mother. But although the picture, which Rumohr bought in Florence
for the Berlin Gallery, may possibly represent Lucrezia Tornabuoni,
its execution is too inferior to be from the hand of Botticelli, and it can
only be a school work. The profile of Simonetta in the Pitti has more
affinity with Sandro's work, and the features agree with Ghirlandajo's
45

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
portrait of Marco Vespucci's wife in his Ognissanti fresco; but the
lack of grace in the figure and the exaggerated proportions of the
long, narrow neck, make it impossible to believe that he was its author.
Yet there is character as well as refinement in the clear-cut features, and
undoubted charm in the slender, girlish form, with its quiet, simple
dress of Puritan simplicity, the plain white cap and white slashed sleeve
of the dark square-cut bodice, which in shape and hue so closely re
sembles the Berlin picture. Mr. Berenson has ascribed this much-
discussed portrait to the unknown assistant and imitator whom he
styles Amico di Sandro, and who may have executed this picture in
his master's bottega. A halo of romance surrounds this Florentine
beauty whose charms made so profound an impression on Lorenzo
and his companions, and whose early death was so deeply lamented
by the members of that brilliant circle. Poliziano describes her as
"a simple and innocent maiden, who never gave cause for jealousy
or scandal," and says, that "among other excellent gifts she had so
sweet and attractive a manner that all those who had any familiar
acquaintance with her, or to whom she paid any attention, thought
themselves the object of her affections: Yet no woman ever envied
her, -but all gave her great praise, and it seemed an extraordinary thing
that so many men should love her without exciting any jealousy, and
that so many ladies should praise her without feeling any envy."
LorenzO himself was sincerely attached to Marco Vespucci's charm
ing young wife, and speaks and writes of her with brotherly affection and
sympathy. His intimate friendship with the Vespucci brothers brought
him into frequent relations with her, and he was deeply concerned when,
in the spring of 1476, only a year after Giuliano's Tournament, she was
attacked by the fatal disease which put an end to her life. He sent his
own doctor, Maestro Stefano, to attend her, and when he went to Pisa
in April, charged her father-in-law Piero to let him have the latest re
ports of her health. On the 16th Piero wrote: " La Simonetta is much
the same as when you left. There is but little improvement in her condi
tion. She is attended by Maestro Stefano and everyone about her in
the most assiduous manner, and this, you may be sure, will always.be
the case." On the 18th Piero was able to send better news. "A day
or two ago," he writes to. Lorenzo, " I told you of Simonetta's illness.
46

GIULIANO DKI MKDICI.
Bergamo.

SIMONETTA VESPUCCI
Now, by the grace of God and the skill of your physician, Maestro
Stefano, she is a little better. She has less fever and oppression on her
chest; eats and sleeps better. From what the doctors say, we quite
hope that her illness will not last long. Little can be done for her in
the way of medicine, but great care is necessary. Since Maestro Ste-
fano's good advice has been the cause of the improvement, we all of us
thank you exceedingly, and so does her mother, who is now at Piom-
bino, and feels most grateful for the light which he has thrown upon her
illness." Piero goes on to beg Lorenzo to recall the doctor, and tell him
what fees he ought to receive, adding that he is unwilling to detain the
physician longer, and fears that he may be unable to satisfy his claims.
But the improvement in the patient's condition proved only temporary,
and four days later Piero wrote again to inform the Magnifico that his
daughter-in-law was growing rapidly worse. The two doctors, Maestro
Stefano and her habitual physician Maestro Moyse — evidently, as most
doctors were in those days, of Jewish race — had held a consultation and
did not agree as to the cause of her illness. " Maestro Stefano main
tains that it is neither consumption nor phthisis, and Maestro Moyse
holds the contrary opinion; I know not which of the two is right.
They have, however, agreed to give their patient a certain medicine
which they both hold to be an efficacious remedy. I know not," adds
Piero sorrowfully, "what the result may prove. God grant that it
may have the desired effect! " And he begs Lorenzo to allow Maestro
Stefano to remain for another week, by which time it will be easier to
see the course of events. Before the week was over, poor Simonetta
had breathed her last, and Lorenzo's trusted servant, Bettini, wrote to
his master of the sad event: "The blessed soul of Simonetta has, I
have just heard, passed into Paradise. Her end, it may be truly said,
was another Triumph of Death, and indeed, if you had seen her lying
dead she would have seemed to you no less beautiful and attractive
than she was in life. Requiescat in pace."
On the following day the funeral took place, and Simonetta was
borne to her grave with her fair face uncovered, " that all might see her
beauty, which was still greater in death than it had been in life." In
Petrarch's words:
Morte bella parea nel suo bel volto.
47

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
Bettini describes the tears and lamentations of the crowds who followed
the funeral train from the house of the Vespucci to Sandro's own parish
church of Ognissanti, where Marco's dead wife was laid in the burial
vault of his family. Lorenzo has told us how the news reached him at
Pisa on that sweet April evening, and how as he walked in the garden,
thinking sadly of the beloved dead, a bright star rose suddenly above
the horizon, and he knew that it was the blessed Simonetta's spirit
which had been transformed into this new constellation. "All the
learned Florentines," he goes on to say, "were grieved for her, and
lamented the bitterness of her death, in prose and verse, seeking to
praise her each according to his faculty." Lorenzo himself wrote sonnets
in her memory, Poliziano composed his famous Latin epigram:
Dum pulchra effertur nigro Simonetta feretro,
and inspired by Giuliano, who had been present at his adored lady's
deathbed, described how "the nymph, calm and serene in the hour of
death, turned with full confidence to God." Pagan conceits and
Christain hopes are blended, in the same strange manner, in the beauti
ful Elegy which Bernardo Pulci composed on this occasion, and
dedicated to the sorrowing Giuliano. He calls on the nymphs and
goddesses, who endowed Simonetta with rich beauty, to have pity on
sad Genoa and the mourning banks of the Arno, and tells how the
blessed spirit — " felice alma beata"— has fled from the trouble of this
life to the eternal realm where Laura and Beatrice wait to welcome her.
In a sonnet, which has a prophetic strain, he paints the happy soul
bending from heaven to bid her lover weep no more, lest his tears
should mar her bliss, and tells him that all her thoughts are still of
him, on that blessed shore where she awaits his coming.
If Simonetta's name lives in the immortal verse of these Florentine
poets, tradition has associated -it no less intimately with the art of Botti
celli. A whole group of portraits, in which this gentle maiden is repre
sented with the golden curls, bright eyes and " dolce riso," of which
the poets sing, are to be found in public and private collections, all
alike ascribed to Sandro. Chief among these is the beautiful portrait at
Chantilly, inscribed with the words— " Simonetta Januensis Vespuccia,"
n. which the best modern critics now recognize the hand of Piero di
48

S poo ner.

PORTRAIT.
~i*ion-il i',aiter\.

OTHER PORTRAITS
Cosimo, the no less attractive bust in Sir Frederick Cook's collection
at Richmond, and a somewhat similar profile at Berlin, which origin
ally came from the Medici palace. All of these have ihe wme nth.
rippling hair, the same animated expression, the same rich costume,
and ornaments of pearl and gold, in marked contrast to the Puritan
simplicity of the Pitti portrait. Whether they came from Botticelli's
workshop or are copies of some lost original, they all have certain
distinctive features which reappear in Sandro's conceptions. This has
led some writers, notably Mr. Ruskin, to see in the peculiar types which
recur in his paintings — the long throat, tall, slender form and angular
features, reminiscences of Giuliano's lost love, the fair mistress whose
fame lives in Poliziano's verse and Lorenzo's sonnets. It is Simonetta,
Mr. Ruskin tells us, in a note to his "Ariadne Florentina,"1 who was
the model of all Sandro's fairest women. He paints her as Venus rising
new-born from the waves and holding court in the bowers of spring; or
Abundance, light of foot and glad of heart, scattering her treasures of
plenty as she walks; as Zipporah at the well, where Moses waters her
father's flock ; or as Truth, rejected of men, calling on heaven to bear
her witness and teach Florence the lesson which her children refused to
learn. The theory, interesting and ingenious as it appears, will hardly
bear too strict an examination, but the tradition which ascribes the
authorship of these numerous portraits of Simonetta to Botticelli affords
another proof of the painter's close connection with the Medici house.
Unfortunately, the other portraits which Sandro painted for the
Medici have shared the same fatality which has attended his pictures of
Simonetta. Two portraits of Giuliano, with the olive skin and thick
locks framing his strongly-marked features and lively black eyes, are
still, it is true, in existence, and were during many years the subject of
an animated controversy between Italian and German critics. Morelli
contended that the portrait at Bergamo was the original work by
Sandro, while Dr. Bode stood out stoutly in defence of the Berlin
picture. As a matter of fact both of these lack the life and vigour of
Botticelli's art; and Mr. Berenson maintains that, like the Bella
Simonetta oi the Pitti, which it resembles strongly in the hardness of
outline and in the modelling ofthe face, the portrait of Giuliano, in the
1 "Ariadne Florentina," p. 2<;S.
49 H

SANDRO BOTTICELLI

Morelli collection at Bergamo, is by the hand of an assistant whom he
styles Amico di Sandro.
i ne only Medici portrait now in existence to which we can point
with any certainty as being the work of Botticelli, is one of the
Magnifico's uncle, Giovanni. This handsome and genial prince, who
had laughed over Fra Filippo's escapades and admired his art so keenly,
died in 1463, at the age of
forty-two, to the bitter grief
of his old father, so that
Sandro could never have
known him personally. His
little picture of Cosimo's
younger son must have been
copied from some earlier
image, whether a medal or
one of the wax effigies that
were modelled from a cast
taken after death. Giovanni
is' represented wearing a
black vest with a scarlet cap
on his fair curly locks, and
a view of the valley of the
Arno with the river winding
through the plains in the
background. The regular
features are admirably mod
elled, and there is just that
touch of melancholy in the
expression which is often
seen on the faces of those who die young. In order that there should
be no mistake as to his identity the painter represented Giovanni
holding in both hands a medal bearing the effigy of Cosimo, the old
father to whom he was so fondly attached, and who used to say as he
wandered through the rooms of his stately palace, inconsolable for the
loss of his favourite son: "This is too large a house for so small a
family."

Photograph— Houghton.}
GIOVANNI DEI MEDICI
(Uffizi)

50

From carbon-print by Messrs. Brarctt, Clement and Co., Dornach.
PORTRAIT OF A MKDICI LADY.
Frankfort.

OTHER PORTRAITS
The genuineness of this portrait is, we must own, disputed by
several critics of authority. Dr. Bode, among others, considers the draw
ing of the hands too faulty for Sandro, and has recently put forward his
reasons for assigning it to an inferior artist. He further declares it as
his opinion that the person represented is not Giovanni dei Medici, but
the medallist Niccolo Forzore da Spinelli of Arezzo, who was frequently
employed by the Medici family.
One other portrait, which is now universally recognized as the work
of Sandro, is the bust of a Florentine youth in the National Gallery
(No. 626). This portrait, which was long attributed to Masaccio,
and first restored to its true author by Morelli and Dr. Frizzoni,
is evidently an early work, but already shows signs of that mastery
which Botticelli afterwards revealed in portraiture. We have no clue to
the personality of this youth in the red cap, with the broad forehead and
the mass of thick wavy locks; but the force and beauty with which his
bright, open countenance and keen intellectual air are rendered awakens
our curiosity. He was in all probability some comrade of Sandro's
youth, whether a student of art or letters, who belonged to the burgher
class, and whose strong, eager face, and evident enjoyment of life forms
a striking contrast to the high-bred air and mournful expression of
Giovanni dei Medici.

5i

CHAPTER VI
1476 — 1478
The Adoration of the Magi in the Uffizi.— Portraits of the Medici introduced.— History ofthe
picture.— The altar of the Lami family in Santa Maria Novella. — Relation of Botticelli's
work to Leonardo's unfinished Adoration ofthe Magi. — Vasari's praise.
THE first work in which Botticelli revealed the full individuality of
his style and the complete mastery of means to which he had
attained during his second period of training in the bottega of the
Pollaiuoli, was the Adoration of the Magi now in the Uffizi gallery.
The chief thing that strikes us in this famous little altar-piece is the
boldness and originality of the conception. Certain traditional features
which belonged to all former versions of this favourite subject are still
retained. The peacock with spreading tail is perched on the rough-
hewn stones of the ruined wall which supports the wooden roof of the
stable of Bethlehem ; and the Star of the East, standing over the place
where the young Child lay, pours a golden flood of light on the Holy
Family. But the Virgin and Child occupy a prominent position in the
centre of the picture, and are raised on a higher plane than the Magi
and their followers, while St. Joseph looks on from behind, leaning his
head on his hand, wrapt in profound contemplation. The number of
spectators is greatly reduced, and although as many as thirty figures
are still retained, the skill with which they are arranged in separate
groups causes the number to appear much less. The sense of confusion
and over-crowding which mars the effect of the tondo of this subject,
in the National Gallery, is thus avoided, and the composition gains
immensely in dignity and solemnity.
Immediately in front of the central group, kneeling devoutly at the
feet of the Divine Child, are the Three Kings, bearing the offerings
which they have brought with them from the far East. In these three
Magi we recognize the features of three illustrious representatives of the
52

THE ADORATION
house of Medici, Cosimo and his two sons Piero and Giovanni. The
"Anonimo Gaddiano" mentions this picture as "a little altar-piece
painted by Sandro, by the side of the central door in the church of
Santa Maria Novella," and expressly states that it contains "many
portraits of persons" (al naturale). Vasari goes further and gives us
the names of the personages who are represented. But he is evidently
mistaken in identifying the second king with Giuliano, Lorenzo's
younger brother, or as the historian describes him, " the father oi Pope

Photograph —Houghton.]
THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI
(Uffizi)
Clement VII.," whereas the personage whose features are here repro
duced is plainly Lorenzo's father, Piero dei Medici.
The venerable old man in the dark green mantle edged with fur
and embroidered with gold, who bends down to kiss the feet of the
Child with tender love and an air of evident satisfaction, writes Vasari,
at having reached the goal of his long and perilous journey, is Cosimo,
the Father of his country, and founder of this illustrious house. His
features are familiar to us in medals and other reproductions, but
Vasari declares with truth that of all the portraits which have been
taken of him, this one is the most lifelike and natural that has ever

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
been seen. In the second King, kneeling in the foreground with the
golden casket in his hand, and clad in a scarlet robe lined with ermine,
we recognize the massive features and dark hair of Piero il Gottoso,
whose bust by the hand of Mino da Fiesole formerly stood in an ante
chamber ofthe Medici palace and is now in the Museum of the Bargello.
The third King, robed in white, kneeling on Piero's right and turning
his face with the finely-chiselled features towards his brother, is Cosimo's
younger son, Giovanni. Many critics have recognized his nephew

Photograph— Houghton.] Sandro Botticelli
GROUP FROM THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI
(Uffizi)
Giuliano in the handsome youth with the jet-black locks and the
melancholy countenance, clad in black, who stands immediately behind
Giovanni. The cut of his features, the shape of his head and arrange
ment of his hair, as well as the half-shut eyelids, closely resemble the
Bergamo portrait, which must have been painted about this time in
Sandro's workshop, and although the painter would hardly, as Mr.
Home has remarked, have introduced a living personag-e as one of the
Three Magi, there is no reason why Giuliano should not have figured
among the prominent members of the Magi's suite. Professor Ulmann,
Dr. Steinmann, and other critics are further of opinion that Lorenzo
54

THE ADORATION
himself is the youth who stands in the left-hand corner of the picture,
wearing a crimson doublet embroidered with gold, and resting both
hands on the hilt of his sword. In this case, however, the likeness is
far less marked; neither is it easy to identify the other personages in the
group, although the tall and dignified figure in the act of turning round
to speak to his companion is supposed by some writers to be Angelo
Poliziano, the poet of the Giostra and intimate friend of the Medici
brothers.

Photograph — //orrghtorr.]
GROUP FROM THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI
(Uffizi)

One other figure in this altar-piece, however, is undoubtedly a
portrait. The tall man with the hooked nose and dark, curling hair,
standing in the right-hand corner, wrapped in a long, orange-coloured
mantle, is clearly the portrait of the painter himself. Here we see him
in what was evidently a characteristic attitude, looking back over his
shoulder and fixing his keen gaze upon us. The powerful head, shaggy
locks, and deep-set eyes all give the impression of a man of strong
character and great intellectual force, and bear a striking likeness to
the well-known portrait of Botticelli which his pupil, Filippino Lippi,
55

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
was to introduce into his fresco of the Crucifixion of St. Peter in the
Brancacci Chapel, eight or nine years later.
The scientific arrangement of the whole composition, the skilful
manner in which the separate groups are balanced, shows how much
time and thought the painter must have expended on the work, while
the masterly modelling of each individual head, and the delicate finish
bestowed on every detail, reveal his anxiety to bring the execution of
the picture to the highest
degree of perfection. Cu
riously enough, the group
of the Virgin and Child
strikes us as the poorest
part of the work. The rela
tive proportions ofthe Child
and of the Mother's hands
are as faulty as in the Chigi
Madonna, and this portion
of the composition seems to
have interested the painter
less than the surrounding
figures. But we hardly no
tice these defects in the
general impression of com-
pleteness and harmony
which the picture produces,
and it is easy to understand
the enthusiastic admiration
which it excited among
Botticelli's contemporaries. Among all his works it is the one which
Vasari singles out for the highest praise: " It is impossible," he writes
after giving a full account ofthe chief figures in the picture, " to describe
the beauty which Sandro has given to the different heads that we see
here. They are all placed in different attitudes. Some are seen full-
face, others in profile, some again at three-quarters, while others are
looking clown. Their variety is infinite. Young and old are represented
with a diversity and individuality that reveals the perfect mastery of his
56

Photograph— Ho ughtot:.]
PORTRAIT OF BOTTICELLI FROM THE
ADORATION OF THE MAGI
(Uffizi)

THE ADORATION
art. And we also notice that the followers ofthe Three Kings are kept
separate, and are divided in such a manner that you see which are the
servants of each one. In short, the work is certainly most admirable,
and is so beautiful, alike in colouring, design and composition, that
every artist of our times is filled with amazement at the sight."
Again, at the close of his biography, Vasari returns to the subject
and repeats his encomium of the masterpiece which he had already
praised in such high terms. "All of Sandro's pictures, indeed," he
writes, "deserved great praise, especially those to which he devoted both
diligence and love, such as the altar-piece of the Magi in Santa Maria
Novella, which, as I have already said, is truly marvellous."
The date of this Adoration, which was evidently painted about the
year 1476, and the introduction of the Medici portraits, has, not un
naturally, led modern writers to conclude that the altar-piece was pre
sented by Lorenzo il Magnifico to the church of Santa Maria Novella,
as a thank offering for his escape from the daggers of treacherous con
spirators who murdered his brother Giuliano. But there is no docu
mentary evidence in support of this theory, and, within the last year or
two, Mr. Home, to whom we owe. so much valuable information re
garding Botticelli, has discovered the true history of this famous picture.
We know now that it was originally painted for a merchant of the Lami
family, who ordered it for the altar of a chapel in Santa Maria Novella
which he had recently erected and adorned with the richest marbles.
A record in the Laurentian Library,1 first published by M. Mesnil,
proves that this citizen's name was Gasparre Zenobii del Lami, the son
of a chemist and barber, who amassed considerable wealth and owned
lands and woods in the neighbourhood of Florence. Gasparre, we learn
from the same source, was a member of the Compagnia di Gesu Pelle-
grino, which held its meetings in the church of Santa Maria Novella,
and to which, on his death in 1481, he bequeathed an illuminated Book
of Offices, bound in black satin. The fact that he bore the name of one
of the Three Kings may have prompted him to choose the A doration of
the Magi for the picture which, according to the entry in the Codex, " he
employed Sandro Botticello Fiorentino to paint for the altar which he
had raised, which was all of carved marbles, and at the foot of which
1 "Codex Baldovinetti," p. 124, quoted by M. Mesnil in " Miscellanea d'Arte," 1903, p. 96.
57 l

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
he was buried." M. Mesnil suggests with great probability that in the
old white-headed man standing behind Giuliano, holding the edge of
his cloak, to the right of the picture, we have the portrait of Gasparre
Lami, who would have been sixty-six in 1476. Whether Botticelli's
intimate relations with the Medici brothers led the wealthy citizen to
introduce the portraits of their kinsmen in his altar-piece, or whether
Gasparre was glad of this opportunity to pay a graceful compliment to
these powerful personages, we cannot tell; but it is plain, from the
pains which the painter bestowed on these figures, that this formed an
important part of his task. The altar of the Lami in Santa Maria
Novella became known as the altar of the Epiphany, we learn from an
early record of the seventeenth century, which is reproduced in Father
Gaetano Martini's Sepolcrario of 1729,1 "because it was adorned by a
picture of the story of the Three Magi, painted by that most excellent
master, Sandro Botticelli, and held by all to be a marvellously fine
work." Albertini, who, as we have seen, wrote in Sandro's lifetime, Antonio
Billi and the Anonimo Gaddiano, all describe the altar-piece of the
Magi by Sandro Botticelli as hanging between the doors or on one
side of the central door of the great church. It remained there until, in
1570, the ancient altar of the Lami family was removed, owing to
certain alterations that were made in the church by the Grand Duke
Cosimo's orders. Then Sandro's altar-piece was sold to Fabio.Arazzola,
Marchese di Mondragone, a Spanish chamberlain in the Grand Duke's
service, and carried off to his new palace in the Via del Giglio. Five
years later Mondragone fell into disgrace and was accused of revealing
secrets of State to Philip II. He himself received notice to quit Florence,
and his splendid palace, with all its contents, was hastily sold. Then
Botticelli's Adoration of the Magi passed into the Grand Duke's col
lection and remained at the villa of Poggio Imperiale, until it was
removed to the Uffizi in 1796.
The most curious part of the whole story is that by that time
even Botticelli's authorship was forgotten, and up to the last thirty
years the painting bore the name of Domenico Ghirlandajo, and "was
admired," Milanesi tells us, as "a stupendous work of that master,"
1 Herbert Home, "The Story of a famous Botticelli" (" Monthly Review " 190')
53

LEONARDO'S ADORATION
while every annotator of Vasari's "Lives" and Borghini's " Riposo"
successively "lamented the disappearance of Sandro's highly-extolled
Adoration." The fact that this attribution to Ghirlandajo should have
been accepted shows how closely Sandro's picture resembles the work
of the realists, and how in his portraits of the Medici he equalled the
achievements of his rivals in this direction. But one day the director of
the collection of drawings, Carlo Pini, was struck with the similitude
of the so-called Ghirlandajo to Vasari's description of Botticelli's miss
ing altar-piece, and a careful examination of the panel, which fortunately
still remains in excellent preservation, confirmed the truth of his
discovery. Another point of interest about this picture is its obvious con
nection with Leonardo's unfinished Adoration ofthe Magi also in the
Uffizi (No. 1252). This great work, the only painting by Leonardo
that still remains in his own city, has recently been moved from its old
place by the new Director of the gallery, Dr. Corrado Ricci, and placed
in a position where it can be more closely inspected, and where its
beauties are seen to greater advantage. The best critics now agree in
considering this unfinished work, to be the picture wh'ch Leonardo was
commissioned to paint in March, 1481, by the monks of S. Donato a
Scopeto, outside the Porta Romana, for the high altar of their convent
church.1 A large number of sketches and studies for this painting are
still in existence, and nothing is more likely than that some of these
belong to the period when Sandro painted his Adoration for Gasparre
Lami's altar. As Mr.. Berenson has reminded us, in his chapter on
Leonardo's drawings, in his recent work, all through his life Leonardo
was in the habit of making drawings of any subject that was in his
mind, whether he had received a commission for a work or not, and
some of his studies for the Last Stipper are said to have been executed
fifteen years before the fresco itself. In 1476 Leonardo was still working
with Verrocchio, and after that he lived in a house of his own in Florence
until his departure for Milan in 1482, so that he no doubt still kept up
close relations with his friend Sandro, and may well have helped him
with his advice and suggestions when he painted this important work.
In some points the Adorations of the two masters resemble each other
1 " Leonardo da Vinci," Eugene Miintz, vol. i, p. 61.
59

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
closely, in others they differ considerably. Perhaps the likeness of
Leonardo's conception to that of Sandro is more marked in the pre
liminary studies than in the painting, especially in the drawing formerly
in the Galichon collection, where the buildings in the background are
almost the same.
Both painters have abandoned the old traditional composition and
placed the Virgin and Child in the centre of the picture; but while
Sandro's Holy Family is raised high above the surrounding figures,
Leonardo has improved upon this innovation by bringing his Virgin
and Child into the more immediate foreground. Again, in the disposi
tion of the groups there is a marked resemblance, especially in the
position of the figures who are standing in the two corners of the
picture, where the arc of the centre touches the ground. In both cases,
as Mr. Berenson was the first to notice, the figure in the right-hand
corner of the picture looks away from the central group towards the
spectator, and alike in his gesture and in the folds of his robe we notice
a curious resemblance.1 There can be little doubt that in both cases
this solitary figure represents the painter himself, and that as we re
cognize Sandro's features in the man in the orange cloak, so in the
chivalrous youth clad in armour who looks out of Leonardo's picture,
we see the great master himself in the flower of youth and beauty.
The comparison is one which might be carried further, and is cer
tainly full of interest. On the whole Leonardo's conception, as might
be expected, shows greater freedom and charm, especially in the case
of the Madonna and Child, who are distinctly superior to those of
Botticelli. None the less, in scientific composition, in glorious beauty
of colour, and in the masterly rendering of individual heads, the elder
master's painting remains unique among works of the period. The
warm praise which Vasari has bestowed upon this Adoration shows
how highly it was esteemed by the next generation, and we can well
believe that, as he tells us, the success of this important commission
added greatly to the reputation which the painter had acquired both in
the city itself and beyond the gates of Florence.
1 "The Drawings of Florentine Painters," by Bernhard Berenson, vol. i, p. 153; " Leonardo,
da Vinci," by Georg Gronau, p. 91.

60

CHAPTER VII
H75—H78
Botticelli as a painter of classical myths. — Influence of the revival of learning in Art. — Intro
duction of pagan motives by Florentine painters. — Close relations between the scholars and
poets of the Laurentian age. — Angelo Poliziano. — His poem of the Giostra. — Botticelli's
Allegory of Spring. — 'Theories on the interpretation of this picture. — Connection of the
subject with Poliziano's poem. — Classical allusions introduced. — Conspiracy of the Pazzi
and Murder of Giuliano dei Medici.
AMONG the Florentine masters of his age Botticelli stands out as
the foremost painter of classical myths, the man in whose art the
enthusiasm for pagan antiquity, which was the ruling passion of
Lorenzo's immediate circle, finds the fullest and most complete expres
sion. This phase of Sandro's art has become of late years almost as
popular as his religious paintings. On the one side we know him as the
painter of Madonnas, on the other as the master of the Venus and the
Pallas, the Primavera and the Graces. Since all the varying moods of
the fickle world in which he lived were reflected in his work, it was
natural that this, the strongest and most powerful influence of the times,
should find a place there.
The classical revival which had permeated the literature of the
Laurentian age was slowly gaining a hold on Jhe art of the Quatro-
cento, and affecting both .the" sculpture and painting of Florence.
Painting, indeed, had been so long exclusively dedicated to the service
of the Church, that some time elapsed before the prevailing humanism
of the day was able to turn its course into new channels. But by degrees
the twofold forces of scientific realism and the study of classical models
succeeded in transforming Art in all its manifold forms. The passion
for building splendid palaces which distinguished not only the Medici
but all the ereat families of Florence, afforded the decorative arts fresh
scope for development, and supplied painters with a new field. Vasari
tells us that Dello, an artist who flourished in the first half of the
61

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
century, decorated cassoni with subjects from Greek and Roman history,
and myths, from Ovid's Metamorphoses. And as a remarkably fine
specimen of the artist's skill in this direction, he mentions the furniture
of a whole room, which was decorated in this style for Cosimo dei
Medici's son, Giovanni. The story of Paris, we learn, was among the
subjects which Paolo Uccello painted in the Casa Medici. Donatello,
we know, reproduced classical motives from antique gems, the legends
of Ulysses and Pallas, of Bacchus and Ariadne, of Diomedes and the
Palladium in the eight marble medallions with which he adorned the
inner court of the palace, and the Pollaiuoli brothers painted their life-
size figures of Hercules upon the walls of the same house.
The close intimacy that existed between the humanists and artists
of Lorenzo's immediate circle produced' rich fruit in this direction. Leo
Battista Alberti, the brilliant and many-sided man who anticipated
Leonardo in the marvellous versatility of his talents as writer, architect,
sculptor, painter and musician, and who discoursed to Lorenzo and
his companions on summer evenings in the woods of Camaldoli, lays
it down as a fundamental principle that the artist should cultivate the
society of poets and orators in order to draw inspiration from their
eloquence. In his "Treatise on Painting"1 the same writer gives the
artist minute directions for the representation of pagan gods and heroes,
Jupiter and Mars, Hercules and Antseus, Castor and Pollux, as if
these themes were the only subjects worthy of the painter's serious
attention. Already, when Alberti wrote, it is plain that the antique was
rapidly becoming as much the fashion with painters and sculptors as
with poets and men of letters. Alberti himself died in 1472, before
Lorenzo had reigned in Florence for three years, and when Botticelli
was still comparatively unknown. But his treatises on Architecture and
Painting were, no doubt, introduced to Sandro's notice by one of the
leading humanists of Lorenzo's court.
This was Angelo Ambrogini, generally known by the name of
Poliziano, from the mountain-town of Montepulciano, where he was
born in 1454. The distinguished humanist, who was so intimately con
nected with the Magnifico and his children, came to learn Greek and
Latin at Florence as a friendless orphan, and in his poverty sought the
1 " Delia Pittura," ed. Bartoli, p. 338.
62

• ANGELO POLIZIANO
help of this generous patron. At the age of sixteen he translated four
books of the " Iliad " into Latin, and won the appellation oi Homericus
juvenis from the Florentine humanists. At eighteen he wrote his
famous musical drama of " Orfeo" during a brief visit which he paid
to Mantua with the young Cardinal Francesco Gonzaga in the summer
of 1472. But his influence extended far beyond his own productions.
When, a few years later, he became Professor of Greek and Latin,
the power and eloquence of his genius attracted the most brilliant
youths of Florence to his. lectures. - "His function was to inspire,"
writes one of the latest historians of the Renaissance, Sir Richard Jebb,
"and his gifts were such that his brief span of life sufficed to render
him one of the most influential personalities in the history of Italian
humanism." '
Sandro Botticelli was one of those who fell under the spell of the
" Homeric youth," and caught the fire of his impassioned rhetoric.
Like his august patron, Angelo Poliziano showed the keenest interest
in art and artists. He edited Alberti's works, suggested the subject of
The Battle of the Centaurs and Lapithae to the young Michelangelo for
one of his first bas-reliefs, and composed Latin epitaphs for the monu
ments erected by Lorenzo to Giotto in the Duomo of Florence, and to
Sandro's master, Fra Filippo Lippi, in the Cathedral of Spoleto. And,
just as in later years, the young Raphael sought the help ofthe humanists
of Urbino, of Bembo, and Bibbiena, and Castiglione, in the composition
of his great Vatican frescoes, so now Botticelli found inspiration in the
poems of the youthful Poliziano.
Whether Sandro was able to read the Latin poets for himself re
mains a doubtful question. Vasari, we know, tells a story of a neighbour
whom the painter accused of holding the false opinions of Epicurus,
and who in return charged Sandro with heresy, since without learning
(senza aver lettere) and being hardly able to read, he ventured to write
a commentary upon Dante. But whether we accept the literal truth of
this statement or not, it is clear that Botticelli was familiar with the
works of contemporary poets and with Italian renderings of classical
authors. The very fact that Vasari describes him as a persona sofistica,
seems to imply that he dabbled in philosophy and took part in the
1 "The Cambridge Modern History." Vol. i, The Renaissance, p. 556.
63

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
arguments and discussions that were so fashionable among the Platonists
ofthe age. The verses of Lorenzo and Poliziano, the prose writings of
Alberti, and the dialogues of Lucian were evidently well known to him.
And deeply stirred as he was by the realities ofthe present, the idealism
of his nature led him to take delight in romantic themes. His poetic and
impressionable temperament was quick to respond to the influences in
the air about him, and he felt as few other artists of his day could feel
the charm of the old myths which had so powerful a fascination for
the finest minds of the age.
Both Antonio Billi and the Anonimo tell us that Sandro painted
many figures of nude women that were surpassingly beautiful. After
giving us this information the last-named writer adds the following
sentence: "At Castello, in the house of Signor Giovanni dei Medici, he
painted many pictures which are among his finest works."
Vasari, who wrote thirty or forty years after the Anonimo compiled
his record, confirms this statement, and tells us that in his time two of
these pictures by Sandro were still at Castello, a villa belonging to the
Duke Cosimo. "One of them," he continues, " is a new-born Venus
who is blown to the shore by the Loves and Zephyrs. The other is also
a Venus, whom we see crowned with flowers by the Graces to represent
the figure of Spring; and both of these the painter has represented with
rare grace." In this description we recognize the Birth of Venits, now in the
Uffizi, and the Allegory of Spring, which is now in the Accademia.
There is no mention of these paintings in the various inventories ofthe
Magnifico's collections, and both the Anonimo and Vasari speak of
them as belonging to the villa of Castello. This villa, the Anonimo in
forms us, was the house of Signor Giovanni dei Medici. This was none
other than the famous Captain, popularly known as "Giovanni delle
bande nere," John of the black bands, the only son of the valiant
Madonna of Forli, Caterina Sforza, by her third marriage with the son
of Lorenzo dei Medici's handsome cousin Giovanni. This gallant soldier
was mortally wounded in a skirmish with the German forces under the
Connetable de Bourbon and Frundsberg, then marching on Rome, and
died, a few days afterwards, at Mantua in December, 1526. In Vasari's
64

LORENZO DI PIER FRANCESCO
days the villa of Castello was the property of Giovanni's son, Cosimo I,
who had by this time risen to supreme power in Florence and had
assumed the title of Grand Duke of Tuscany.
This double statement naturally leads us to conclude that Sandro's
two great mythological pictures were originally painted for Lorenzo di
Pier Francesco, the uncle of Giovanni delle bande Nere, and elder
brother of that Giovanni who married Caterina Sforza. This youth was
the grandson of Cosimo's only brother, Lorenzo, and the head of the
younger branch of the house. His father, Pier Francesco, a partner
in the Medici bank, and a loyal supporter of Piero il Gottoso and his
sons, died in 1474, leaving him a large fortune, and the Magnifico was
especially anxious to retain the friendship and support of this wealthy
kinsman, who gave him financial assistance on more than one critical
occasion. In 1478, when, after the Pazzi conspiracy, Lorenzo was in
sore straits for lack of money, he mortgaged his estates at Mugello to
his cousin, and betrothed his own daughter Luigia to Giovanni di Pier
Francesco. The girl, however, died young, so that this plan for the
union of the two branches of the family was frustrated. But the Mag
nifico employed his elder cousin on several important affairs of state,
and sent him to France in 1483 as ambassador to Charles VIII, whose
open supporter he afterwards declared himself, when that monarch
entered Florence in 1494. But as long as the Magnifico lived, he had
no cause to repent of the trust which he reposed in Lorenzo, and the
most cordial relations were maintained between the cousins. Lorenzo
di Pier Francesco was only two years younger than Giuliano dei Medici,
and joined with zest in the jousts and hunting parties with which his
cousins amused the gilded youth of Florence. At the same time he
shared their literary tastes, wrote songs and Latin verses, and was a
generous patron of scholars and artists. In the fine Adoration of the
Magi which Sandro's pupil, Filippino Lippi painted for the monks of
S. Donato in 1496, we may still see the portraits of the different members
of this branch of the Medici family. Lorenzo is the dark man in the
prime of life, wearing a red mantle. His brother, Giovanni, is the
graceful, fair-haired youth in a long green cloak, bearing a gold casket
in his hand, while in the gray-headed old King kneeling in the fore
ground we have the portrait of their father, Pier Francesco. Lorenzo's
65 K

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
beautiful villa of Castello, on the heights above Careggi, commanded a
splendid view over the valley of the Arno, and was renowned for the
extent and loveliness of its gardens. Here Pier Francesco's son enter
tained the Magnifico and the other members of his family at many
a sumptuous banquet, and held splendid festivities in honour of the
distinguished guests who visited Florence. Sandro's old patrons, the
Vespucci, were among his most intimate friends. Amerigo Vespucci,
the great traveller, who was about his own age, took shelter at Lorenzo's
villa of Trebbia in Val Mugello during the plague of 1476, and after
wards sent an account of his voyage to his old associate. Amerigo's
niece, it is also worthy of note, who was born in this same year, received
the name of Piera Francesca. Dr. Brockhaus, to whose researches
we are indebted for this information, further remarks that the serpent
worn by Simonetta in Piero di Cosimo's famous picture at Chantilly,
was the device of Lorenzo di Pier Francesco, who may have employed
the artist to paint this portrait of Marco Vespucci's young wife for his
own benefit.1 Angelo Poliziano was also intimately acquainted with
Lorenzo, and dedicated the first of his " Sylvae," a poem in praise of
Virgil, to this brilliant and accomplished youth, as well as an idyll on
the rural charms of the Medici villa at Poggio a Caiano. Nothing was
therefore more natural than that the Magnifico's rich and accomplished
kinsman should wish to decorate his villa with mythological subjects
painted by Sandro's hand on themes suggested by the verses of Poliziano.
In 1476 or 1477, the young humanist, who already stood so high in
Lorenzo's favour, began to compose an epic poem in honour of Giuliano's
tournament. As Luigi Pulci some years before had celebrated the
Giostra di Lorenzo in a well-known poem, so Poliziano now abandoned
his Homer to sing the arms and loves of the gallant Giuliano. The
leading note ofthe epic is struck in the opening stanzas, in which the poet
addresses Lorenzo as the laurel in whose shade Florence can rest in
perfect security, and expresses a pious hope that some day he may have
the happiness to sing the "praise of Lorenzo's name and bear his renown
from the Indies to the far ocean, from the Numidian shore to Bootes.
But since the task is as yet beyond his strength, he will tune his lyre to
another melody, and sing the prowess and the loves of the Magnifico's
1 " Forschungcn iiber Florentinischer Kunstwerke." H. Brockhaus.

POEM OF THE GIOSTRA
younger brother. In a series of idyllic scenes, the poet tells the story
of Giuliano's loves. First of all, he describes " il bel Giulio," the brave
and adventurous youth, whose life is spent in the pleasures of the
chase and of study, who is devoted alike to the service of the Muses
and Diana, despises women and lovers, and leads a free joyous life in
the fields and the woods, while fair nymphs sigh for him in vain. Then
he narrates the wiles by which Cupid, determined to avenge this slight,
aims his arrow at the heart of the proud youth through the eyes of the
beautiful Simonetta, and describes Giuliano's meeting with the lovely
nymph in the solitary shades of the forest, and the dream in which she
appears to him clad in the armour of Pallas. In a long digression
Poliziano takes us to the court of Venus in the island of Cyprus and
pictures the gates of the palace, adorned with reliefs of the Venus
Anadyomene, the loves of Jupiter, Bacchus, Apollo, and other gods
and heroes. There Cupid sings the glories of the house of Medici and
returns to prepare Giuliano for the combat in which he is to win fresh
laurels. But in his dream, Simonetta is suddenly withdrawn from his
sight, in a thick cloud, and the hero, waking from sleep, invokes the
help of Pallas and Cupid, and lifts his eyes to the sun, which is the
emblem of glory.
Here, just as Giuliano is to enter on the Giostra which was to be
the theme of his epic, the poet breaks off abruptly at the forty-sixth
verse of the second book.1 In all probability his task was interrupted by
the terrible events of the conspiracy of the Pazzi and the murder of
Giuliano, after which he never had the heart to resume his song, and
the great epic remained unfinished. In this beautiful fragment, how
ever, we have not only the finest of Poliziano's efforts in verse, but the
source from which the painters of the Renaissance drew some of their
fairest creations. Raphael derived his wonderful fresco of the Triumph
of Galatea from this poem, and Botticelli found in it the theme of his
loveliest pictures.
The exact significance of Sandro's famous Allegory of Spring,
which the Anonimo and Vasari saw at the Medici villa of Castello, and
which is now one ofthe chief ornaments ofthe Accademia delle Belle Arti
in Florence, has been the subject of endless controversy. Some critics
1 " Stanze di Angelo Poliziano." Libro primo e secondo. Ed. 1825.
67

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
maintain that Botticelli owed his conception to the Latin poets, others
are equally convinced that he was inspired by contemporary singers.
Professor Warburg traces the origin of the composition to Poliziano's
" Rusticus," a Latin poem in praise of spring-time, which he wrote at
the Medici villa of Fiesole in 1483, and sees in the figure of the god Mer
cury, a reminiscence of an ode of Horace ("Carm.," I, 30), which had
been recently translated by Zanobi Acciauoli.1 Signor Supino considers
Sandro's picture to be an illustration of Lorenzo dei Medici's " Selve
d'Amore," while others are equally certain that he found his inspiration
in the lines of Lucretius. Dr. Steinmann recognizes the portrait of
Simonetta in the form of Venus and that of Giuliano in the figure of
Mercury. Several authorities consider the scene represents Giuliano's
first meeting with his mistress in the heart of the forest; one German
writer, Herr Emil Jacobsen,2 has framed an ingenious theory, according
to which Botticelli here shows us the awakening of Simonetta in the
Elysian fields. An Italian critic, Signor Marrai,3 carrying allegory still
further, sees in the different figures emblems of the elemental forces and
the powers of Nature renewing their life in the coming of Spring.
The best interpretation of Sandro's Allegory, we are convinced, is
to regard it, in Signor Venturi's words, as a "painted epilogue of
Poliziano's 'Giostra.'"4 The particular passage which the artist has
chosen to illustrate is the poet's description of the realm of Venus and
the coming of Spring. This description, which was one of the most
admired portions of Poliziano's epic, he has followed in no servile spirit,
adapting it freely to his own uses, and surrounding the creations of his
fancy with imagery borrowed from other sources, whether Poliziano and
Lorenzo's own verses or familiar passages from classical poets, Lucretius
and Ovid. In the composition of his picture, there can be little doubt,
Sandro benefited by the help and advice of Poliziano, who, as we have
seen, took a lively interest in artistic matters, and was the intimate
friend and companion of the Medici brothers and their kinsman, Lorenzo
di Pier Francesco. It was, as we know, the habit of these Renaissance
lords and ladies to employ the poets and scholars in their service to
1 Warburg, "Sandro Botticelli, Geburt der Venus und Friihling."
'' Jacobsen in "L'Arte," vol. ii, p. 484. 3 Marrai in "L'Arte," vol. i, p. 500.
4 " La Primavera nelle arti rappresentative," Adolfo Venturi. (Nuova Antologia, 1S92.)
68

P. s

bV

ALLEGORY OF SPRING

compose the paintings which artists were desired to execute for the
decoration of their houses. Isabella d'Este invariably applied to some
well-known humanist, such as Pietro Bembo or Paride da Ceresara, to
supply Giovanni Bellini and Perugino with minute directions for the
Fantasic which were to adorn the walls of her studio. In the same way,
the members of the Medicean circle may well have sought advice from
the brilliant young poet who
early learnt to tune his lyre
to courtly uses. Poliziano
probably discussed all the
details of the picture, which
Sandro was to paint for the
halls of Castello, with Lo
renzo di Pier Francesco and
his friends, while the Mag
nifico himself, as the leader
of fashion and arbiter of
taste in Florence, doubtless
took an active part in the
discussion. The enchanted region
where Venus reigns in the
isle of the southern seas has
been portrayed with exqui
site charm by the painter.
Here, in a forest glade,
under a bower of orange
trees laden with golden fruit,
and surrounded by a luxuriant growth of myrtle, the Queen of Love
holds her court. Tall and slender in form, but with a certain royal
grace in her bearing, arrayed in robes of white and gold and carrying a
red mantle on her arm, the goddess advances to welcome the coming of
Spring, and invites her guest to enter with a gracious gesture. We see
the beauteous Primavera, stepping lightly over the grassy sward, bear
ing a lapful of roses which she scatters before her as she goes. Her fair
hair and Graceful throat are wreathed with blue cornflowers and starry
69

Photograph— Hoi'g':'on.]
VENUS FROM "SPRING"
(Accademia, Florence)

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
daisies; her white robe is garlanded with long trails of fresh green ivy
and briar roses, and patterned over with flowers of every hue. This is
truly the nymph of whom Poliziano sings :
Ma lieta Primavcra mai non mauca,
Che i suoi crin biendi e crespi all' aura spiega,
E mille fiori in ghirlandetta lega.1
And this, too, is the fair Simon
etta who has conquered Giuliano's
heart; the adored mistress whom
the poet describes in the first book
ofthe " Giostra":
Candida ella e Candida la vesta,
Ma pur di rose e fior dipinta e d'erba.
Lo inanellato crin Jell' aurea testa
Scende in la fronte umilmente superba ....
Con lei sen va Onestate umile e piana,
Che d'ogni chiuso cor volge la chiave,
Con lei va Gentilezza in vista umana,
E da lei impara il dolce andar soiive.2
Whatever may be the exact A
significance of this fair vision,
Botticelli clearly borrowed all this
imagery, the rippling hair of gold,
and the white robe painted with
roses and flowers of varied hue,
from Poliziano's description of
Simonetta, just as the emerald
bough and golden fruit " of the
bower of Venus and the green and
flowery- meado wed and smiling

Photograph —Houghton."] SPRING
(Accademia, Florence)

forest " are used as the setting for his Primavera :
Ride le attorno tutta la foresta.
The laughing nymph Flora, who follows closely on the steps of
Spring, dropping rosebuds and anemones from her lips, as she flies from
the embraces of Zephyr, the blue-robed god of the spring breezes, who

1 " Stanze," i, 72.

' Stanze," i, 43, 46.

/O

ALLEGORY OF SPRING
tries to seize her in his arms, was no less evidently suggested by
Poliziano's lines:
Ove tutte lascivo dietro a Flora
Zefiro vola, e la verde erba infiora.1
Lorenzo employs the same image in his " Selve d'Amore":-
Vedrai ne regni suoi non piu veduta
Gir Flora errando con le ninfe sue :
II caro amante in braccio l'ha tenuta
Zefiro ; e in sieme scherzan tutti e
due.
Both poets probably
borrowed the image from
the following passage of
the Latin poet Lucretius :
It ver et Venus, et Veneris praenun-
tius ante
Pennatus graditur, Zephyri vestigia
propter
Flora quibus mater praespargens
ante viai
Cuncta coloribus egregiis et odoribus
opplet.
The group of three
Graces who, clad in dra
peries of transparent gauze,
dance on the dewy lawn,
with hands linked together,
was plainly suggested by
Leon Battista Alberti, who
in his "Treatise on Paint
ing," mentions this subject immediately after his well-known de
scription of the Calumny of Apelles, as having been often painted by
the ancients and eminently adapted for treatment by modern artists.
" What shall we say," he writes, " of these three youthful sisters, whom
Hesiod names Aglaia, Euphrosyne and Thalia, and whom the ancients
painted with laughing faces, holding each other's hands and adorned

Photograph — Houghton.]
THE THREE GRACES FROM "SPRING"
(Accademia, Florence)

1 " Stanze," i, 68.
3 " Della Pittura," L. B. Alberti, p. 350.

Poesie di Lorenzo dei Medici,'' p. 184.

71

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
with loose and transparent robes? Solutis Gratiae zonis (Horace,
"Carm.," I, 30). "They are supposed to be emblems of Liberality,
because one sister gives, the second receives and the third gives back
the gift, which conditions must be satisfied in all perfect liberality."
Before them goes the god Mercury, whom Horace names in the Ode to
which we have already referred,1 as the herald of Venus and of the
Graces; a stalwart youth,
wearing a winged helmet
on his thick black locks
and red drapery round his
strong limbs, who scatters
the mists in the tree-tops,
with the caduceus in his
uplifted hand, all uncon
scious of the golden shaft
which Cupid is aiming at
his heart. The presence of
the winged boy who, hover
ing in the air above the
head of Venus, draws his
bow to let off his shaft, re
calls Poliziano's lines when,
on the first meeting of "il
bel Giulio" with Simonetta,
Cupid secretly aims an
arrow at the hero's heart:

PItotograph — Houghton. ]
ONE OF THE GRACES FROM "SPRING"
(Accademia, Florence)

Non s'accorge il meschin che quivi e
Amore.2

The introduction of this motive, as well as the resemblance of
Botticelli's Mercury to the portraits of Giuliano dei Medici, afford fresh
proofs that in Sandro's picture we have an illustration of Poliziano's
" Giostra." As Signor Venturi remarks, this hypothesis is further
supported by an old fifteenth-century engraving, which belongs to a
" Rappresentazione " entitled L'innamoramcnte di Galvano da Milano.

' Carm.," lib. i, 30.

" Stanze," i, 41.

72

ALLEGORY OF SPRING
Here the mistress of Galvano appears as the nymph of Spring with
her hands full of flowers, while Cupid hovering above her head is in the
act of aiming a dart at her lover's heart.1
All the leading features of Botticelli's early works are present in
this picture. TJieJall^enderforms and light, clinging draperies of the
d^ndngjiiaide.ns.JScaUJFra .Filippo's angels^ The rich gold embroideries "
which adorn the white robe of Venus, and the pearls in her fair "tresses,"
display the love of ornament which he had learnt in the workshop of
the goldsmithj;£ain^^^hTTfflu^cer''of the Pollaiuoli is still marked /
in the careful drawing of the nude in the limbs and attitude of Mercury,
as well as in the exaggerated curve of the hip which is common to all
Sandro's earl y_figures,. and is especially noticeable in the Fortezza and
ThlYPallas. AtXhe same time, there is a distinct advance in freedom of '
style and individuality_of character. In the features of the Graces, in
the rhythmical movement of their danceTTn their wavy locks and Wistful
eyes, we alreadyXe^oghize" Botticelli's favourite types, the forms and
expression which are especially associated with his art, while the smile
on the face of Spring has the subtle, charm that haunts his friend
Leonardo's creations. The sense of air and motion that pervades the
picture, the swift action of the god Zephyr, the fluttering garments of
Spring, are all highly characteristic. Both in these details and in the
varied treatment of the locks of Flora and the Graces we have another
proof of his fajriiliarity^with Alberti's treatise. After discoursing of the
manner in which the passions ofthe soul are expressed in the movements
of the body, Leon Battista proceeds to treat of the motions of inanimates-
objects. " And since the d^fijiea^tiojuof movementof hair and locks, of
stems of trees and branches, and of drapery in pictures adds greatly to
their charm, I should certainly wish that hair should be represented in
the following different ways: Sometimes it twists in a circle, forming a
knot, at other times it flows on the air, imitating flames; now it curls
downwards under other locks, now it is lifted upwards in one direction
or another. In the same way, the branches grow upwards and fall back,
partly towards the stem, and are partly twisted in the shape of coils of
rope. And the same thing may be seen in draperies; as, from the trunk
of one tree, many branches are born, so from one fold many other folds
1 Signor A. Venturi in " La Nuova Antologia," vol. 123, p. 47.
73 L

Houghton.

THE THREE GRACES.
Accaden ia, Florence.

i i».tr «*j^os t UsiiXL^»- "i

Houghton.

ONE OF THK GRACE.S.
/J ccadentia. Flcren :e.

ALLEGORY OF SPRING
met that joyous spring-time in the fair gardens of Castello! But a tragic
doom hung over these dreams of youth and love:
Quant' e belta giovinezza
Che si fugge tuttavia !
Chi vuol esser lieto, sia,
Di doman non c' e certezza.'
So, in the words of Lorenzo's Carnival hymn, sang the chorus of
youths in Greek costumes, as the pageant of Bacchus and Ariadne was
borne on a triumphal car from the doors of the Medici palace, while
troops of white-robed maidens, crowned with flowers, danced merrily on
the Piazza di Santa Trinita and mingled their songs with the voices of
the young men, to the music of viols and flutes. Giuliano himself joined
in the mirth, and the Magnifico, with Poliziano at his side, looked on
from the steps of his house at the corner, as the gay revellers passed
before him in procession, all unmindful of the prophetic ring in the light
refrain of their song, telling them how soon youth and joy must pass
away. Within a year of Giuliano's triumphal Tournament, the " bella
Simonetta" was no more, and exactly two years later, before Poliziano
had finished the second book of his "Giostra," Giuliano himself, the
darling of the Florentines, was murdered by the Pazzi conspirators on
Sunday, the 26th of April, 1478. Poliziano broke off his poem to tell
in sterner prose the dark story of the plot that brought his hero's life to
this sharp and sudden close, and Sandro turned from painting visions
of beautiful nymphs and the joyous spring-time, to record the names and
effieies of the traitors, on the walls of the Palazzo Pubblico.
1 Lorenzo dei Medici, " Trionfo di Bacco e Arianna:" Poesie, p. 421.

75

' CHAPTER VIII
1478 — 1480
Conspiracy of the Pazzi. — Punishment of the conspirators. — Botticelli is employed by the Signory
to paint their effigies on the Palazzo Pubblico. — Lorenzo's visit to Naples. — Pallas and the
Centaur.— Allegorical meaning of the picture. — The Birth of Venus in the Uffizi. — Poli
ziano's description in the Giostra. — Mars and Venus in the National Gallery. — Dr. Richter's
interpretation of this composition.
THE conspiracy of the Pazzi sent a thrill of horror through
Florence. The plot had been hatched in Rome by the Pope's
nephew Girolamo Riario, and Francesco Pazzi. Another kinsman of
his Holiness, the young Cardinal Raffaelle Riario, a boy of sixteen,
was present as the honoured guest of the Medici brothers and was with
them in the Duomo at Mass, when the bloody deed was done. The
Archbishop of Pisa, Francesco Salviati, took an active part in the
conspiracy, and the Pazzi family was closely connected with the rival
house of Medici, Guglielmo dei Pazzi being the husband of Lorenzo's
sister Bianca. Two priests actually made the attempt upon Lorenzo's
life, and to crown all, the murder took place at the most solemn moment
of the mass. Giuliano fell dead on the steps of the choir, pierced with
nineteen wounds by the daggers of the traitors. One of them, Francesco
Pazzi, was conversing in the most familiar manner with him, as they
walked up the nave of the great church together, and threw his arm
round the waist of the murdered man, to ascertain that he wore no
armour under his doublet. Lorenzo himself narrowly escaped the same
fate, and was only saved by his own presence of mind and the courage
and devotion of his friends. One of them, Francesco Nori, was stabbed
through the heart in his efforts to save the Magnifico's life, and the
assassin's dagger grazed Lorenzo's neck as, running in front of the
high altar, he took refuge in the Sacristy, where Poliziano and his
companions closed Luca della Robbia's bronze doors in the face of his
pursuers. The holiest places ofthe Duomo ran with blood. " Nothing
76

PAZZI CONSPIRATORS
but noise and shouting," wrote an eye-witness, Filippo Strozzi, "could
be heard in the church. A general panic seized all who were present.
One fled here, the other there," while the terror-stricken boy Cardinal
clung to the steps of the altar and protested his innocence.
But the Florentines rallied loyally round Lorenzo, and crowds sur
rounded the palace to which he had been borne in safety with shouts of
" Palle, palle! " Giuliano's murder was avenged with terrible prompti
tude. Francesco Pazzi, the Archbishop of Pisa, and two of his kinsmen
were hung that very day from the windows of the Palazzo Pubblico.
Jacopo Pazzi, the head of the family, managed to escape from the city,
but was caught hiding in the neighbourhood and given up to justice by
a young peasant, and was hanged, together with his brother Renato.
The guilty priests were discovered hidden in the Badia and dragged
out to torture and death. Bernardo Bandini Baroncelli, who was Giu
liano's actual assassin, escaped to Constantinople, but was surrendered
a year later by order of the Sultan, and was hanged from the Palazzo.
" He was a bad, bold man," writes Poliziano, " who knew no fear, and
was mixed up in every kind of wickedness. And he was the first who
stabbed Giuliano in the heart with a dagger. Then not content with
having murdered Giuliano, he hurried towards Lorenzo, who was able
to escape into the Sacristy with a few followers, upon which Bandini
ran his sword through Francesco Nori, an able man who was one of
the Medici's chief agents." More than seventy^ victims, among whom
were several innocent kinsmen and servants of the Pazzi, were put to
death in all, and the walls of the Palazzo were lined with corpses.
It was then that Sandro Botticelli was employed by the Signory to
paint the effigies of the chief conspirators upon the exterior of the palace
walls. "In 1478," writes the Anonimo Gaddiano, " on the facade where
was the Bargello, above the Dogana, he painted Messer Jacopo, Fran
cesco and Renato dei Pazzi, and Monsignor Francesco Salviati, Arch
bishop of Pisa, and two Jacopo Salviatis, one the brother, the other
the kinsman of the said Messer Francesco, and Bernardo Bandini, hung
by the neck, and Napoleone Francesi, hung by one foot, who all con
spired against Giuliano and Lorenzo dei Medici. And at the foot of
their effigies Lorenzo placed epitaphs, and the one on Bandini runs
thus : 77

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
Son Bernardo Bandini, un nuovo Giuda.
Traditpre micidiale a chiesa io fui.
Ribello per aspettare morte piu cruda.
This description of Bandini, as a traitor and murderer in church,
shows how much the horror of the crime was heightened by the fact
that it was perpetrated in the sanctuary. Napoleone Francesi, whom
Sandro painted, the Anonimo tells us, hanging by one foot, was repre
sented in this manner, because he alone among the conspirators suc
ceeded in escaping safely, and, more fortunate than Bandini, was never
captured. The selection of Sandro for this office is another proof of his close
connection with the Medici and of the high favour in which he stood
with Lorenzo at this period. The Council of Outlawry, from whom he
received the commission, paid him forty gold florins for executing the
task in the month of July, 1478, so that we may conclude he spent about
two months on the work. According to Vasari, who, however, ascribes
the painting of the effigies of the Pazzi conspirators to Andrea del
Castagno, the work was executed in a marvellous manner. " It would
indeed be impossible," he writes, "to describe the art and judgement
which was shown in the personages here portrayed mostly taken from
life and hung in strange attitudes of the most varied and beautiful
description." 1
Another curious thing which may be mentioned, in connection with
this grim task that was assigned to Botticelli, is that his friend Leonardo
has left us a drawing of Bandini's execution,2 which was taken on the
29th of December, 1479, when the criminal was hanged, after being
given up by the Sultan. The keen interest and close attention, with
which the artist has followed the death-agony of the wretched criminal,
is characteristic of the master who used to attend executions and dissect
corpses in Milan. The body, in its loose garments, is seen hanging at
the end of a rope with the head bent forward, the arms tied behind the
back, and in the margin of the framing we read the following notes
describing Bandini's clothes: "Small tan-coloured cap, black satin
doublet, blue mantle lined with fox, black hose." These details seem
1 Vasari, ed. Milanesi, vol. iii.
a This drawing in now in M. Bonnat's collection, and is reproduced in M. Miintz's " Leon
ardo da Vinci," vol. i, p. 53.
78

Houghton.

PALI.AS.
Patazz- Pit!',

LORENZO'S RETURN FROM NAPLES
to imply that the drawing, which is now in M. Bonnat's collection,
originally served as a sketch for a more important work. Perhaps
Leonardo may have been employed to paint the effigy of Bandini, by
the side of the conspirators whom Botticelli had already depicted on
the walls of the Bargello.
During the troubled times that followed the death of Giuliano and
the rising of the Pazzi, we hear of no more commissions for pictures.
Florence was threatened by enemies on every side, and all Lorenzo's
courage and diplomacy were needed to suppress factions at home, and
to avert the open and covert attacks by which Pope Sixtus endeavoured
to effect his downfall. But when this critical moment in his career was
over, and the security of the State and his own supremacy was assured,
the Magnifico once more employed Sandro to work for him.
In the spring of 1480, Lorenzo returned in safety from his perilous
mission to the court of Naples. This bold step had been crowned with
complete success. After three months' parleying, King Ferrante had
finally signed a treaty with the Florentine republic, and Lorenzo was
able to set sail for Pisa, taking with him as a parting gift from the old
king, a fine horse which he received with the remark " that a messenger
of joyful news ought to be well mounted." When he reached Florence
he met with the most enthusiastic reception. "The whole city," writes
Guicciardini, "went out to welcome him, and hailed his coming with
the greatest joy, since he brought with him peace and the assurance of
the preservation of the State." l His faithful friend Poliziano celebrated
the occasion in a new poem, expressing his joy at the sight of Lorenzo's
face and his longing to clasp his right hand and bid him welcome to his
home:
O ego quam cupio reducis contingere dextram
Laurenti ! et laeto dicere laetus, Ave !
The poet gives an animated account of the scene that day at the
palace of Via Larga, of the crowds which filled the halls and of his
own vain endeavour to press through the joyful throng and salute the
hero of the hour, whom he sees from afar, with smiling countenance,
greeting his friends and thanking them with words and smiles and
hands. But since he cannot greet him in person, he sends Lorenzo his
1 " Storia Fiorentina," p. 109.
79

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
verses to hail him on this auspicious day and bear witness to his servant's
love and joy:
Ite mei versus, Medicique haec dicite nostro,
Angelus hoc mittit Politianus, Ave!
It was then that the Magnifico, desirous to commemorate the
restoration of peace and his own triumphant return, employed Botti
celli to paint the famous picture of Pallas subduing the Centaur, which
was discovered some ten years ago, in a dark corner of the Pitti Palace.
The only mention of this painting in contemporary records is to be
found in an inventory of the contents of the palace in Via Larga that
was taken on the 7th of October, 15 16. Six months before that date
Giuliano dei Medici, the Magnifico's son, had died at Fiesole. His
only surviving brother, Giovanni, was the reigning Pope, Leo X, and
his nephew, Piero's son Lorenzo, had been proclaimed Duke of Urbino.
The only Medici left in Florence, were the representatives of the
younger branch of the house, Piero, the son of Botticelli's patron,
Lorenzo di Piero Francesco, and his first cousin, Giovanni delle bande
nere, the son of Caterina Sforza. A division of the family property was
made between them, and in the list of pictures here mentioned we find
the following entry :
" In the second room on the ground floor, a figure oi Minerva and
a Centattr."
In another inventory, taken at a slightly later date, this entry is
repeated as follows: •
" In the second room, by the side of the hall on the ground floor,
a Minerva and Cetitattr on canvas, with a panel behind it."
This description is perfectly accurate, and the newly-discovered
picture now in the Pitti Palace is painted on canvas, which Botticelli
also employed for his Birth of Venus in the Uffizi, a work probably
executed about the same time. The Pallas passed into the Pitti Gallery
together with most of the Grand Ducal collection, towards the end of
the eighteenth century, and was engraved in Frassinetti's " Galleria
Pitti illustrata," published in 1842. The editor of that work describes
the work in question as an "An Allegory by Sandro Botticelli," which
seemed to be connected with Lorenzo il Magnifico, since it bore his
device of the triple ring, but the exact significance of which it was
80

Houghton.

PALLAS AND THE CENTAUR.
Palazzo Pitti, Floren.e.

PALLAS AND THE CENTAUR
impossible to explain. Fourteen years later, on the marriage of the
Archduke Ferdinand of Lorraine, some alterations were made in the
Pitti Gallery, and Botticelli's Pallas was removed with some other
pictures to a storeroom in the palace, where its very existence was
forgotten. It was only in 1895, that an English connoisseur, Mr. Spence,
who happened to be paying a visit to the Duke of Aosta, caught sight
of the Pallas in a dark ante-room of the private apartments reserved for
royal use, and recognized it as a work of Botticelli.
Although this painting is not mentioned by Vasari or any con
temporary writer of the Laurentian age, it is clear that we have here
an allegory of Lorenzo dei Medici's victory over his enemies, and the
establishment of his wise and beneficent rule. As Poliziano's courtly
verse records the most glorious moment in the Magnifico's life, so
Botticelli's painting remains a lasting memorial of Lorenzo's triumph
and the disastrous fate of the Pazzi conspirators. Art and poetry had
already associated the goddess Pallas with the house of Medici. The
muse of Poliziano and the brush of Sandro had taught the Florentines
to see in the Greek goddess the protectress of Lorenzo and Giuliano,
and the guardian of their family. On the other hand, the Centaur had
been held to be the symbol of political strife and disorder since the days
of Plutarch. Giotto introduces a Centaur as a type of rebellion and
crime into his fresco of Obedience at Assisi, and Dante speaks of the
Centaurs as accursed creatures in his " Purgatorio." x
In this case, the Centaur not only appears as a common emblem
of crime and folly, but fitly represents the Pazzi, whose name literally
signifies " fools."
Nothing can be simpler than the composition. Pallas, a tall and
stately figure, bearing the Medusa shield on her back, and armed with
a massive halberd, stands before us as if she had just alighted upon the
earth, and seizes the Centaur by the forelock. Her white robe is em
broidered with the triple djamond ring that was the favourite device of
the Medici, and the graceful olive bough wreathed about her brows and
trailing over her breast and arms, are symbols of the goficLtidings of
peace which Lorenzo had brought back with him from Naples. This
Centaur with the shaggy locks reminds us of the painting by the Greek
' " Purgatorio," xxiv, 120.
8l M

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
artist Zeuxis, which Lucian describes. But he is no monster of vice and
ugliness. On the contrary, his venerable figure and aged face seem to
plead for mercy, as he cowers before this triumphant daughter of the
gods, who looks down upon her captive in all the might of divine
youth and beauty. Behind her we catch a glimpse of distant hills and
seas, that may be intended to represent the Bay of Naples, with the
ship which bore Lorenzo
homewards sailing across
its waters. Both the types and
general style of the picture
confirm the supposition that
it was painted in the year
1480, some time after the
Primavera, but certainly
before the Birth of Venus.
The figure of Pallas re
sembles the Fortezza and
the figure of Venus in the
Allegory of Spring. But
although her form still re
tains the prominent curve
of the line of hip, which is
a curious feature of Sandro's
early frescoes, the signs of
the Pollaiuoli's influence are
less marked than in these
last-named works. The
gentle, half-pitying expression on the face of Pallas, and the decorative
pattern of the olive foliage, are full of charm, and the painter's scheme
of colour is nowhere more pleasing and harmonious than in this compo
sition. The mantle falling over the white robes of the goddess is of a
rich green ; the sandals on her feet are of orange hue, and her bright
locks of red-gold stream on the breeze, in the soft, rippling waves
commended by Alberti. On the left, a mass of gray shelving rocks re
presents the cavern which is the Centaur's home, and forms a striking
82

Photograph— Houghton.']

PALLAS
(Palazzo Pitti)

BIRTH OF VENUS
background to the group. So the painter once more proved that poetic
imagination can gild the dullest theme with light, and transform even
a political cartoon into a dream of beauty.
We have neither historical information nor documentary evidence
to guide us in determining the precise date of the two other mythical
subjects by Sandro's hand, which are still in existence. One is the
Birth of Venus which Vasari mentions, together with the Primavera,
as being in the Grand Duke Cosimo's villa of Castello, and which came
with the Grand Ducal collection into the Uffizi. The other is the long,
narrow panel which goes by the name of Mars and Venus in 'the
National Gallery.
The subject of the former picture, as we have already seen in the
case of the Primavera, was evidently derived from Poliziano's po£jm_tif
Giuliano's Giostra. In a passage adapted from one of the Homeric
hymns, the poet describes the birth of Venus. Among the sculptured
reliefs which adorned the portals of the palace of Venus in the enchanted
isle of Cyprus, he sees the n^w-born_A4ihr^dite^_jcnajd^rijWth a divine
face, gently wafted by the soft breath of the ZepJayT^on_thj_vyhite foam
of the Aegean waves, towards the flowerv shore :
Vera la schiuma e vero il mar direste,
E vero il nicchio c ver soffiar di venti,
La Dea negli occhi sfolgorar vedreste;
E '1 ciel riderle a torno e gli elementi:
L'Ore premer l'arena in bianche vesti;
' L'aura increspar li crin distesi e Ienti.1
Hjiayxn_aacLeai±hXhe_poj^
of the Gods. The whiterrobed Hours wait to welcome her and spread a
star-sown robe over her ivory limbs, and countless flowers spring up
alono- the shore where her feet will tread. All of this exquisite imagery/
is faithfully reproduced in Sandro's painting. He represents his Vemis
Anadyomene laying one hand on her snowy breast, the other on her
loose tresses of yellow hair — a form of virginal beauty and purity, as,
with her feet resting on the golden-tipped shell, she glides softly over
the rippling surface of the waves. He paints the shower of single roses
fluttering about her form, and the. winged Zephyrs clad in garments of
pale mauve and green, and linked fast together as they hover in the
1 Poliziano, " Stanze," i, ioo.
83

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
air ahpve., and waft the goddess to the shore of love. Following another
of(XUbertjus> suggestions, Botticelli introduces the actual "faces of
Zephyr and Auster, appearing out of the clouds, in the opposite side of
the picture, and blowing on the figures in such a manner that their
draperies shall take beautiful folds in_the breeze." 1 After his wont,
Sandro simplifies the composition, and in the place of the three Hours,
mentioned in Homers' hymn, and in Poliziano's " Stanze," he shows us
one fair damsel, the nymph of spring, wearing a white robe, em
broidered with blue cornflowers, and girdled with convolvulus and roses,
who springs forward with light and elastic step to offer Venus a pink
mantle sown with daisies. In the laurel-groves that grow along the
shore and spread out their boughs to shelter the new-born Aphrodite,
we have, no doubt, a courtly allusion to Lorenzo's name. In the dedica
tion ofthe "Stanze" Poliziano addresses his patron as the laurel under
whose shade Florence can rest safely:
E tu ben nato Laur' sotto il cui velo
Fiorenza lieta in pace si riposa.2
and he speaks of him elsewhere as the "laurel-tree who sheltered the
song-birds who carolled in the Tuscan spring."
The sense of light and airy movement is wonderfully given in
wind-blown draperies and fluttering roses, in rippling waves and tossing
locks that would have delighted the heart of Alberti, in the light and
springing footstep and glad gesture of the nymph of Spring, in the
gliding motion of Venus herself. Sandro never fashioned a fairer or
more delicate form than this Qprid^ss_o£_loye,_jivhose ivory limbsjuay_
well have been modelled, as tradition says, from some antique marble
among the sta^ues_of^e Medid gardens. Some critics, indeed,.
have suggested that Botticelli borrowed the attitude of his goddess
from the famous little statue known as the MedicjVenus. Dr. Julius
Meyer, with more probability, thinks that he found his model in another
cJassicaLstatue, which Benvenuto Rambaldi saw when he paid a visit to
Florence, a hundred years before, and which, according to his descrip
tion, agrees exactly in form and pose with the Venus of Sandro's
picture. But the wanjace of the^goddess with her mournful air and
sadj^fetfuleyes, is unlike any Greek or Romanjmage of the Heaven-
1 " Delia Pittura," lib. ii, p. 344. ¦ .< Stanze," i, 4.
84

% \

\

BIRTH OF VENUS

born Queen of Cnidus and Paphos. All the sorrow of thejriodern world
is_llLer;e^jh^_slrangejTote ofjjrjsa_tisfied yearning which this painter of
the Laurentian age has made peculiarly his own, and which appeals
with a singular power to the children of the present day. This impres
sion is heightened by the a^sjiru^e^jrf jumarid the cold gray morning
_:light.that is slowly stealing over the distant bays and headlands of the
landscape, and the , long,
reaches of silent sea. We
know not where Sandro
caught this mediaeval note
which blends so strangely
with the bright myth of the
Old Greek world ; but we
feel there is no mer^aSScEE
fion in his m^aTrc-hoIy,
which finds expression both
nr""T7is sacreHa^nd in his
secular~wgrkT1 InXiis Ma
donna^ sand Angels^as wejl
as'IrTTiis nymphs and muses.
It maynave been only rne
natural utterance of that
sadness which seems to be
the common heritage of the
poetic temperament — the
sense of tears in mortal

thmgs; or it may be the
reflection of that sorrowful

VENUS
Bikth of Venus," Uffizi)

Photograph —Houghton.]
(From the
consciousness of the uncerta]nty_of life, of human love and coming
d^atiT*,"whTcn^lTrevv' its shadow over thegaylestivals oFtftoseT?^nais-
"sance days, and haunted Lorenzo's own songs with a mournful echo :
Di doman non e'e certezza.-
In this picture of the Birth of Venus, the painter, we realize, has
taken a new step in advance, and having freedjiimsel£a]^ethej^frpm
the influence of other masters, henceforth relies entirely upon his own
85

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
resources. Thj_^jffn^s_aiid_ri.gidity of his early works have given way
to perfect ease and grace, the old defects and difficulties have been over
come, andnEToTficeflnRas attained to a beauty of line and a decorative
completeness such as has been rarely surpassed by any other artist.
The other classical subject which Sandro painted about the same
time, that is to say, soon after the canvas of Pallas subduing the
Centaur, and before his journey to Rome, in the beginning of 1481, is
the painting entitled Mars and Vemts(No. 915 in the National Gallery).
This long narrow panel was probably originally intended to adorn the
top of a doorway in one of the Medici palaces or villas, and remained

Photograph — Valentine and Sons."]
MARS AND VENUS
(National Gallerv)
in Florence until it came to England in the Barker collection some fifty
years ago. At the sale of that collection, in 1874, it was bought by the
trustees of the National Gallery, acting under the advice of the newly-
appointed director, Sir Frederic Burton. The Loves of Mars and Venus
was a favourite theme both with Renaissance poets and painters, and
is the title of one of those curious dramatic compositions which Lorenzo
wrote, and which were performed on festive occasions by his own
children. It consists of four monologues spoken in turn by Venus,
Mars, Apollo and Vulcan, and contains some of Lorenzo's best and
sweetest verse. The old story is also introduced by Poliziano in a well-
known passage of his "Stanze" (Libro I, 122), where Cupid, on return-
86

MARS AND VENUS
ing to his mother's palace in Cyprus, finds Venus reclining on a couch
with Mars in her lap, surrounded by a troop of joyous little Loves,
who shower roses over the lovers:
Trovolla assisa in letto fuor del lembo,
Pur mo di Marte sciolta delle braccia
11 quai rovescio le giaceva in grembo,
Pascendo gli occhi pur della sua faccia.
The attitude of Venus in Sandro's picture certainly recalls these lines,
which may well have supplied the painter with his theme. On the
other hand, the close connection that exists between this painting and
another passage of the same poem, has led Dr. Richter to suggest
a different interpretation of the subject.1 In the second book, the poet
describes the dream which Venus sends to Giuliano in his sleep. His
fair mistress, Simonetta, appears to him wearing the armour of Pallas,
and Cupid, whispering in his ear, tells him that the goddess will give
him the victory in the Tournament, and that when the fight is over, his
love will lay down her arms and be given back to him clad in her old
white robe. In the broad-chested, strong-limbed young man, with the
olive skin and the thick curly locks, whom Sandro represents slumber
ing with his head drowsily sunk back on the flowery sward, Dr. Richter
suggests we have "il belGiulio" himself, the mighty hunter who sleeps in
the cool shade of the myrtle bowers, dreaming of his beloved. Here, too,
according to the same critic, is the lady of his love, who, clad in a white
gold-braided robe, and resting her arm on a crimson pillow, sits up erect
and grave, watching the sleeping warrior with an air of contented repose
on her face. The careful arrangement of the fair nymph's curled and
plaited locks, her life-like and expressive features, have led Dr. Richter
to sugg'est that we have here a portrait of Simonetta robed in the
bianca gonna ready to meet the eyes of her lover when he wakes out of
sleep. Meanwhile three merry little goat-footed Loves play with his
lance and helmet, and one mischievous boy blows through a shell into
the slumbering hero's ear, while another laughing child peeps out from
under his arm without apparently producing the least effect. These
sportive children do not belong to Poliziano's epic, but were evidently
suggested by a passage in which Lucian describes a picture of the
1 " Lectures on the National Gallery," bv Dr. J. P. Richter, p. 55.
87

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
Marriage of Alexander by the painter Aetion.1 This Greek poet, whose
minute and critical account of works of art was very popular with the
Florentine humanists of the Renaissance, describes the three little
Cupids bending down under the weight of Alexander's spear, and tells
how one of these has slyly slipped his head into the breast-plate lying
on the ground, exactly as Sandro has painted them.
Whatever the correct interpretation of the subject may be, we
have without doubt, in the National Gallery panel, one of the finest and
most highly-finished of Botticelli's works. There can be no question as
to the rare decorative charm of the design, or the incomparable beauty
of line that is revealed in living forms and flowing draperies. The
nude limbs of the sleeping warrior and soft roundness of the baby forms
and faces are admirably modelled. The rich colouring of the crimson
cushion and gold-chased armour, the snowy whiteness of the nymph's
robes, are set off by the dark-green foliage of the myrtle bower and the
delicate tints of the sky and sea that appear in the distance.
The companion panel to this picture in the National Gallery (No.
916), a Venus or Simonetta reclining on a couch, while three Amorini
play at her feet with bunches of grapes and red and white roses, was
also acquired for the nation at the Barker sale, and still bears the name
of Botticelli, but is evidently an inferior work by a scholar's hand. The
best authorities now recognize it as the work of Jacopo del Sellajo, one
of Sandro's most skilful and industrious assistants, who executed most
of the similar compositions in the Louvre and other galleries.2
The Bacchus, lifting a cup to his lips with both hands, which
Vasari saw in the Medici palace and describes as a very beautiful figure,
has unfortunately disappeared, and we can only hope that, like the
long lost Pallas, it may once more be brought to light by some unex
pected stroke of fortune.
1 Lucian "Herodotus, Opera 4," cd. Jacobitz, 1887. See also Count Plunkett, "Sandro
Botticelli," p. 44.
2 Mary Logan, " Revue Archeologique," 1900.

88

CHAPTER IX
1480 — 1 48 1
Botticelli paints a fresco of St. Augustine in Ognissanti.— Ghirlandajo's St. Jerome.— Income-
tax paper of 1480.— Sandro's family affairs.— Botticelli invited to Rome by Pope Sixtus IV.
— The Adoration ofthe Magi at St. Petersburg.— The Sixtine Chapel.— Tuscan and Umbrian
masters engaged by Giovannino dei Dolci to decorate the Papal Chapel.— Date of the
frescoes ofthe Sistina. — Terms ofthe contract. — Assistants employed by these painters.
IN 1480, the year in which Botticelli painted his Pallas and the
Centaur to commemorate Lorenzo's safe return from Naples, he
was employed by Giorgio Antonio Vespucci to paint a fresco of St.
Augustine in the church of Ognissanti. The Vespucci, as we know,
were among Botticelli's earliest patrons, and this member of the family
was distinguished for his learning and piety. He took orders about this
time and was made a Canon of Santa Maria del Fiore in 1482. Fifteen
years later, during the revival of Savonarola, Giorgio Antonio joined
the Dominican order, and, like Botticelli himself, became one of the
Prior of San Marco's most devoted followers. Ognissanti was the parish
church ofthe Vespucci, where, a few short years before, la bella Simonetta
had been laid to rest, and where Sandro's own family had their burial-
place. In this ancient shrine he was now called to paint a fresco of this
great Father of the Western Church, for whom he seems to have had
an especial devotion, and whose figure appears in several of his later
works. " On this occasion," writes Vasari, "Sandro put forth his greatest
powers in order that he might surpass all his contemporaries, but
especially Domenico Ghirlandajo, who had painted a figure of St.
Jerome on the opposite wall. This work proved worthy of the highest
praise, and in the head of this Saint the painter succeeded in showing
that profound depth and acuteness of intellect which marks those wise
and thoughtful men who are continually engaged in the study of lofty
and difficult subjects."
89 N

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
Ghirlandajo, to whom Vasari here alludes, was throughout his life
Botticelli's chief rival among contemporary painters. Gifted with rare
facility of hand and an admirable talent for portraiture, this pupil of
Alessio Baldovinetti rapidly became the foremost painter of the realist
school in Florence, and rose high in the favour of the Medici and other
leading families. The Vespucci were among his earliest patrons, and
it was about this time that on the walls of this same church of Ognis
santi, he painted the recently discovered fresco of the Madonna della
Misericordia, with the chief representatives of this illustrious family
kneeling at the Virgin's feet. So that Sandro may well have been stirred,
as Vasari tells us, " to put forth all his power," and prove his superiority
to his able and industrious but decidedly prosaic rival. The style and
temperament of the two masters was curiously unlike, and the contrast
between them is nowhere more striking than in the two frescoes bearing
the golden wasps of the Vespucci, which may still be seen side by side
in Ognissanti. Both Saints are represented sitting at their writing-desk, absorbed
in profound meditation. But while Ghirlandajo is wholly intent on the
external aspect of his theme and renders every. detail of St. Jerome's
cell — the candle and hour-glass, the inkstand and scissors, the Cardinal's
hat and flask on the shelf behind him, even the variegated pattern of
the table-cloth with Dutch-like accuracy, Botticelli, after his wont,
takes us into the heart of his subject and lays bare the working of
Augustine's mind. The mystic bent of his nature here comes to his help.
He knows the power of the unseen and can realize with penetrating
sympathy the zeal and devotion of the great Saint and scholar. We see
Augustine sitting in his narrow cell with a pen and ink-pot in his hand,
and a book open before him. His jewelled mitre stands on the table at
his side, and several massive folios are set on the shelf behind. On the
open pages of one of these we read the words:
Dove San Martino e disesperato
E dov' e andato fuor della Porta al Prato.
This inscription, as Herr Brockhaus has lately told us,1 evidently refers
to the Camaldoli hermit known as the Beato Martino, who lived in the
Convent of San Salvadore near the Porta San Frediano. Close to this
1 " Forschungen iiber Florentinischer Kunstwerke." H. Brockhaus.
90

Alinari.

SAIXT AUGUSTINE
Ognissanti, Florence.

SAINT AUGUSTINE
gate was the village of Peretola, where the Vespucci had their country-
house, and where, the German writer suggests, the good Canon may
have been first inspired with the desire to enter holy orders. The same
commentator suggests that, in the astrolabium orarmillary sphere which
stands on the desk before Augustine, we have a reference to the Canon's
nephew, Amerigo Vespucci. It is worthy of note that an engraving
of Amerigo examining the Southern Cross, by the aid of this astro
nomical instrument, figures on the title-page of Bandini's life of the
famous Florentine traveller.
But all the interest of the picture is centred on the head of the
Saint, with its fine, ascetic features and fiery expression. The worn face
and deeply-marked furrows tell of studious nights and anxious days, of
long struggles and passionate prayers, before the restless heart could find
its true rest. Now as he ponders over the problemswhich perplex his soul,
the Saint lays one hand earnestly on his breast, and his upturned eyes
and parted lips seem to breathe a prayer to heaven for light. Once mofe"
we realize how thoroughly Botticelli has mastered the principles laid
down by Alberti and learnt to express the thoughts and emotions of the
soul by the action and movement of the body— " a thing indeed," writes
our author, "requiring the greatest diligence, since the motions ofthe
human mind are so infinitely varied." As Leonardo wrote: " A good
painter has two chief objects to paint — man and the intention of his
soul. The former is easy, the latter hard, for it must be expressed by
attitudes and movements of the limbs; and it is only by a complete
knowledge of gesture that it is possible to paint the different emotions
of the soul.
In 1480, this year which was so full of great enterprises, a second
income-tax return gives us a glimpse into Sandro's private life. The
painter, we learn from this precious paper, was at that time still living
in the house of his old father, in the Via Xuova. Mariano himself is
described as being eighty-six years of age and too old to be able to work
any longer— non fa piu nulla.1 But his large family of children and
grandchildren are still for the most part living under the paternal roof,
and. in order to make room for these twenty souls, the old tanner rents
another house at nine florins a year, standing next to his own. His
" Gaye Carteggio," vol. i, p. 344. and E. Miintz, " Chronique des Arts," 1899, p. 312.
91

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
wife is dead and the household is managed by her sister Monna Van-
gelista, a woman of seventy, who had married Mariano's brother
Amedeo, and been left a widow some years before. The eldest son,
Giovanni, surnamed Botticello, aged sixty, carries on business as a
merchant of leather, and has a family of seven children, by his wife,
Monna Nera, the daughter of Benincasadei Chori. Of these the eldest,
Benincasa, a youth of nineteen, is in Rome with the banker Salviati, a
member of the same family as the luckless Archbishop of Pisa, who
was hung for his share in the Pazzi Conspiracy, and whose effigy
Sandro had recently painted on the Palazzo. This young man, how
ever, his father is careful to add, earns but a small salary and costs his
parents more money than he brings in. Amedeo, the next brother, aged
eleven, is employed in a Florentine bank and has good prospects of
advancement in time, but does not yet earn a single maravedi! Agno-
letto, aged eight, and Jacopo, aged three, are still at school, and the
three girls, Alessandra, Anna, and Smeralda, an infant in arms, have
not yet been provided with dowries.
We now come to old Mariano's second son, Antonio, who is
described as. being fifty-one years of age, and who was formerly a gold
smith, but has apparently abandoned this trade and is now living at
Bologna, where he sells books and makes about two florins a month,
after paying his expenses. He has three children, a girl of nine, Eliza-
betta, and two boys, Mariano, aged seven, who grew up to be an artist
and lived till 1527, and Bartolommeo, aged five. His wife, Barto-
lommea Spigolati, is seven months with child.
The third brother, Simone, is about forty-one years of age, and is
still living at Naples, whither, it will be remembered, he had gone with
the Rucellai as a boy, but without occupation. Finally, there is
Mariano's younger son, the painter Sandro, "who works in the house
when he chooses." His age is given as thirty-three, which does not
agree with the statement that he was thirteen in the catasto of 1457,
and since the former record is probably correct, we may conclude that
in 1480, Sandro had entered his thirty-sixth year.
In spite of the usual attempt to plead poverty in the presence of
the tax-gatherer, it is plain that the family were in comfortable circum
stances. Mariano had inherited property from hi.s brother Jacopo, also
92

INVITATION TO ROME
a tanner, who had lately died childless, and the lands which he owned
at Peretola produced seventy-two bushels of wheat and thirteen
measures of wine in the year. The old man also rented a farm at
Careggi, for which he paid the yearly sum of thirty florins, in order
that he might have a safe retreat " where he might seek shelter in time
of plague." This last fact is worthy of notice. It is interesting to know
that Botticelli's father had a country home at Careggi, close to Lorenzo's
favourite villa on the Apennine slopes, in those days when the painter
was constantly working for the Magnifico and his friends, and enjoyed
the society of the distinguished poets and humanists of the Medici circle.
But the success of his recent works and the high esteem in which
he was held by the Maecenas of the age, had spread Botticelli's fame
beyond the walls of Florence, and early in the following year he
received an important commission from a new and unexpected quarter.
He was invited to Rome by Pope Sixtus IV, in order that he might
superintend the decoration of the newly-erected chapel in the Vatican
palace. During many years this ambitious pontiff had been the bitterest
enemy of Lorenzo dei Medici. His nephew, Girolamo Riario, had been
the prime mover in the plot which cost Giuliano his life, and it was
no secret that the Pazzi conspiracy had been hatched in the Vatican.
When the Florentines in their just indignation hanged the Archbishop
of Pisa and threw the young Cardinal, Raffaelle Riario, into prison, the
Pope retaliated by excommunicating Lorenzo and laying the city under
an interdict. So bitter was the hatred which the Holy Father was
known to entertain for Lorenzo that when, after the Magnifico's return
from Naples, he was invited to go to Rome and treat with the Pope in
person, Duke Ercole of Ferrara warned him solemnly not to run into
the lion's mouth. But once the King of Naples had made peace with
Florence, Sixtus IV was compelled to come to terms with his old
enemy, and agreed to receive the envoys who were sent by Lorenzo in
December, 1480, to make their submission and receive the papal
absolution. One of the first conditions upon which the Pope insisted,
however, was the removal of the effigies of the Pazzi conspirators from
the fa9ade of the Palazzo Pubblico. Now, by a singular fate, the very
artist who had painted these effigies was invited to decorate the papal
93

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
chapel in the Vatican. The names of Botticelli and his comrades were
probably suggested to the Pope by his nephew, Cardinal Giuliano della
Rovere, afterwards the great pontiff, Julius II, who visited Florence
on his way to France in June, 1480, and was magnificently entertained
by Lorenzo on this occasion. His Holiness may also have heard of
these masters from Giovanni- Tornabuoni and Guido Antonio Vespucci,
who were sent to Rome as the ambassadors of the Republic at the close
of 1480, and were among Botticelli and Ghirlandajo's most influential
patrons. Vasari, indeed, ascribes the Pope's invitation to the renown
which Botticelli had acquired by his altar-piece in Santa Maria Novella.
"So great," he writes, "was the fame which this Adoration brought
him both in Florence and beyond the walls of the city, that Pope Sixtus
having built a chapel in his palace in Rome and wishing it to be
decorated with frescoes, appointed him to be overseer ofthe work."
But an earlier writer, the Anonimo Gaddiano, speaks of another
Adoration of the Magi which Sandro painted, during his visit to Rome,
and which he adds, "was held to be the finest of all his works." This,
we have little doubt, was the beautiful version of the subject which is
now in the Gallery, of the Hermitage at St. Petersburg. Both in
richness and harmony of colouring, as well as in beauty of composition,
this little picture is a gem of the purest water. In some points the
grouping resembles the Uffizi Adoration, in others it differs considerably
from the earlier work. The same symmetrical arrangement is observed,
but fewer figures are introduced in the foreground- — and the Virgin and
Child are brought more on a level with the kneeling Magi instead of being
raised far above them. Sandro's composition, in fact, here bears more
resemblance to the unfinished Adoration which Leonardo executed that
year for the monks of San Donato in Florence. But in the details of
the picture, the classical pillars which support the pent-house roof and
the round arches ofthe ruined aqueduct, as well as in the prancing steeds
on the right, which recall the famous horses of the Great Twin Brethren
on Monte Cavallo, we see clear tokens of Sandro's presence in the Eternal
City. Another remarkable feature of this Adoration is the beauty and
variety of the landscape, with its wooded slopes and distant sea, which
is seen through the pillars of the ruined temple, and extends far and
wide on either side of the picture. There are none ofthe violent attitudes
94

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Si
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asH

INVITATION TO ROME
and exaggerated gestures which mar the beauty of the painter's later
works, but the Three Kings and their attendants kneel in deep devo
tion before the manger-throne, and every figure is instinct with life
and passion. In the fine young oak-trees growing on the right of the .
temple, we recognize the familiar device of Sixtus IV's family, avhich
Raphael was one day to introduce in the frescoes on the ceilingfXf the
Camera della Segnatura. This leads us to suppose that Sandro's
picture may have been painted for Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere,
whose love of art was already well known, and it may have been this
Adoration which first attracted the Pope's notice and led him to make
choice of Sandro to superintend the decoration of his own chapel. But
this is only conjecture. All we know for certain is, that on the 27th
of October, 1481, a contract was drawn up between the Florentine
architect Giovannino dei Dolci, who was at that time superintendent of
the works of the Vatican Palace, and who is here dignified with the
itle of Pontifical Commissioner, and four painters whose names are
given in the following order: Cosimo di Lorenzo di Filippo Rosselli,
Alessandro Mariano and Domenico di Tommaso di Corrado (Ghir
landajo) of Florence, and Pietro Cristoforo of Citta della Pieve, in the
diocese of Perugia. By the terms of this document, these four masters
"now residing in Rome," pledge themselves to paint ten frescoes of
stories from the Old and New Testament, in the new Cappella Grande
of the Apostolic Palace, "with the utmost diligence and faithfulness,
to the best of their powers, and that of their assistants, according as
the work has been already begun." The paintings are to be completed
by the fifteenth day of the following month of March, 14S2, and the price
of each fresco is to be regulated by the valuation already made, and
the payments already received, by the said painters for the works that
have been already completed in the said chapel. And in case the said
painters should not comply with the conditions here laid down, they
will be subject to the heavy penalty of fifty gold ducats, which penalty
they have voluntarily imposed upon themselves. It is clear from this
document, which was discovered by Signor Domenico Gnoli in the
Secret Archives of the Vatican, and first published by him in 1893, 1 that
in October, 1481, Botticelli and his companions, Cosimo Rosselli,
1 "Archivio dell' Arte," 1893.
95

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
Ghirlandajo, and the Umbrian master Perugino, had already executed
some portion of the frescoes in the papal chapel, and had received
payments for their work. This is confirmed by more than one contem
porary writer. The papal Secretary, Jacopo da Volterra, a careful and
trustworthy annalist, has the following entry in his diary of 1481.
"On the first Sunday in Lent, being the eleventh day of March,
divine service was held in the Pope's own hall, as the Capella Grande
is being adorned with excellent and splendid paintings."
On Christmas Eve, 1481, he records that "vespers and mass were
again celebrated in the pontifical hall, because the Capella Grande is
not yet available for use, since, as I have often said before, it is being
decorated with sacred emblems and paintings."1 And Raffaelle Maflfei
writes under the same date: "The Great Chapel is not yet finished,
they are still painting it with emblems and other ornaments."
A second document, bearing the date of January 17th, 1482, which
has been lately discovered by Dr. Heinrich Pogatscher, in the Vatican r
library, states that four of the frescoes executed by the four painters
named in the former contract, were valued by Giovannino dei Dolci and
the Mantuan artist Giovanni Luigi, at the price of 250 ducats each, and
that the said masters received this sum from the Pope.2 With regard
to the assistants who are mentioned in the contract, 'we know that
Cosimo Rosselli brought Piero di Cosimo with him, and that this artist
had a considerable share in the landscapes of his master's frescoes, and
in the opinion of some critics, executed the whole of the Passage of the
Red Sea, commonly ascribed to Rosselli. In the same way Pintoricchio
probably accompanied Perugino as his assistant to the Eternal City,
and eventually painted both the frescoes of the Journey of Moses and
the Baptism of Christ. We do not learn the names of the assistants
whom Sandro brought with him to help in the great work, but from
another document, published by Dr. Steinmann,3 we find that Fra
Diamante, Filippo Lippi's old scholar, received 100 florins from the
Pope for work in the Vatican Chapel, and may therefore conclude that
the Carmelite friar who had worked with him under Fra Filippo Lippi
1 Muratori, " Rerum Scriptores Italicorum," vol. xxiii, pp. 123, 159.
" Die Sixtinische Kapelle," Dr. E. Steinmann, vol. i, p. 633.
3 Op. eit., p. 203.
96

INVITATION TO ROME
accompanied him to Rome. Some writers have supposed that Fra
Filippo's son, Filippino Lippi, who certainly received his first training
from Botticelli, may also have been employed as one of his assistants;
but no trace of his work is to be seen, and a contemporary record, to
which we shall have occasion to refer later, expressly states that the
friar's son Filippino was not one of the painters who were employed in
the Pope's Chapel.

97

o

CHAPTER X
1481 — 1482
The Sixtine Chapel.— Botticelli's share in its decoration. — Portraits of the Popes. — Subjects of
the historical frescoes. — Their theological and political significance. — The Temptation and
Leper's Purification. — The Story of Moses. — The Punishment of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.
— Merits and Defects of Botticelli's frescoes.— Superiority of his work over that of his rivals.
THE new Papal Chapel in the Vatican, which Botticelli and his
comrades were employed to decorate, formed part of a block of
buildings which were erected by Pope Sixtus IV soon after his acces
sion. It was above the library on the ground floor which Melozzo da
Forli had lately adorned with his frescoes, one of which is still pre
served in the Vatican, the striking group of the Pope appointing the
humanist Platina to be his librarian in the presence of the Cardinals and
Girolamo Riario. The architect of these buildings was a Florentine
master, Giovannino dei Dolci, or Johannes Petrus de Dulcibus, as he
is styled in legal documents, who had been in Rome since the days of
Nicholas V, and received a salary of eight florins a month, as super
intendent of the works of the Apostolic Palace. The new buildings
were begun in 1473, and the chapel is mentioned among the Pope's
great and splendid works, in a curious manuscript poem of 1477, which
is quoted by Dr. Pastor in his " History of the Popes," and is still
preserved in the Court Library at Vienna. By the end of 1480 the
builders had finished the fabric, and the painters were able to set to
work early in the following spring. It is worthy of note, as a mark of
the supremacy of Florentine art at this period, that both the architect of
the Sixtine Chapel and the sculptor, Mino da Fiesole, who superin
tended the marble decorations of the interior, were citizens of Florence,
and that three out of the four painters employed by the Pope were also
of Florentine birth, while the fourth, Perugino, had received his artistic
training in that city. The new chapel had been constructed with an
98

THE SIXTINE CHAPEL
especial view to ecclesiastical ceremonies, and was a plain, oblong
building, 132 feet long and 45 feet wide, lighted by twelve round-
headed windows in the upper part ofthe walls. A cornice with an iron
balustrade ran round the foot of the windows, and from the first it was
intended that both the ceiling and the unbroken surface of the lower
portion of the walls, should be decorated with frescoes. The floor was
adorned with a pavement of marble mosaics; a tribune for singers was
erected at one end, and a richly-carved white marble balustrade enclosed
the space reserved for the Pope and the members of the Sacred College.
Vasari tells us that the direction of the whole work was intrusted
to Botticelli by Pope Sixtus, and adds that this master also painted the
twenty-four portraits of the martyr-Popes in the niches between the
windows. The latter part of his statement is certainly true as regards
some of the Popes, in which Sandro's hand may be clearly recognized
in spite of their ruined condition. Dr. Steinmann, who has devoted
especial attention to the frescoes ofthe Sixtine Chapel, ascribes no less
than seven of these portraits to him, and considers that Fra Diamante
and possibly Ghirlandajo were the authors of the remaining seventeen.
The figure of Sixtus II, with his hand laid on his breast and his eyes
raised to heaven, bears a marked resemblance to the St. Augustine which
Sandro had lately painted in Ognissanti, and both the heads of the
venerable Stephanus Romanus and of the young and ascetic-looking
Cornelius would seem to be his work. This row of portraits was no
doubt the first part of the work to be executed, and this was probably
the portion for which the painters had already received payment, when
the contract of October, 1481, was drawn up. Since, however, there
are fifteen large historical frescoes on the walls underneath the windows,
and the document only provides for the execution of ten, it is possible
that some of the lower series were also painted by that time.
The subjects of these frescoes were no doubt chosen by Sixtus IV
himself, who had acquired considerable reputation as a theologian
before his elevation to the Papacy. His object was to set forth the
whole scheme of the world's redemption, and to give an outline of the
Jewish and Christian dispensation as related in the Old and New
Testament. The history of the founders of the Old and New Covenant
are brouo-ht before us in this sanctuary. Since the chapel was dedicated
99

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
to Santa Maria dell' Assunta, the Assumption of the Virgin was to
occupy a central place over the altar, between the Birth of Christ and
the Finding of Moses. These three frescoes were executed by Perugino,
but were afterwards effaced under the pontificate of Paul III to make
room for Michelangelo's Last Jtidgement. On the left wall of the
Chapel, we have six scenes from the life of Moses, the lawgiver and
leader of the chosen people and the recognized type of Christ. On the
right wall, six subjects from the life of Christ, the founder ofthe Holy
Church and Saviour of the world, are seen. But this was not to be the
sole object of the paintings in the Sixtine Chapel. The glorification of
the house of Rovere and of the great deeds of Pope Sixtus IV himself,
as Dr. Steinmann has clearly shown, are kept in view throughout the
series in order to gratify the personal vanity of the ambitious pontiff,
and his resolute efforts to advance the honour and fortunes of his own
family. The first fresco on which Botticelli was employed occupies the
space immediately opposite the Papal throne on the right wall. The
subject which the painter was desired to illustrate, in conformity with
the general scheme of decoration, was the Temptation of Christ as told
in the Gospels. But the scenes relating to this event occupy so sub
ordinate a part in the fresco, that the subject is almost lost sight of,
and the meaning of Sandro's painting was never understood until a
few years ago Dr. Steinmann unravelled the mystery and explained
the true significance of the picture.1 The Purification of a Leper, ac
cording to the law of Moses, is the subject here represented. The
noble Renaissance temple which occupies the centre of Botticelli's fresco
is an exact reproduction of the hospital of San Spirito, as seen in an
old print of the facade of this building, which was afterwards destroyed
when the hospital was enlarged. The building of this ancient founda
tion on a splendid scale, and the institution of a confraternity for its
support, had been one of Sixtus IV's most important works, and had
been only lately completed when the painters set to work on the
decoration of the Sixtine Chapel. Since the Pope himself belonged to
the Franciscan Order and the care of lepers had been one of the first
duties enjoined on his followers by the Saint of Assisi, the choice of
1 " Sandro Botticelli," Dr. E. Steinmann (translated by C. Dodgson), pp. 44-52.
IOO

THE SIXTINE CHAPEL

this subject was especially appropriate. The mystical meaning attached
to leprosy throughout the Old Testament as a type of sin, and the
power of the Church to absolve the sinner from his guilt, just as the
High Priest ofthe old Jewish law could declare the purified leper free
from spot, gave additional significance to the theme which Sandro here
illustrates. The difficulty of com
bining all of these different
motives in a single fresco
has been, on the whole,
successfully overcome by
the painter. In front ofthe
Renaissance facade, the dif-
ferent ceremonies for the
purification of a leper, as
prescribed by the law of
Moses in the fourteenth
chapter of the book of Le
viticus, are successfully
illustrated. Immediately be
fore the temple stands the
altar of sacrifice with the
burning cedar wood, sur
rounded by a crowd of
figures. The leper himself,
still feeble and suffering
from the results of his ill
ness, is led up the steps of
the altar, supported by two friends. His wife advances quickly from
the opposite side, carrying the appointed offering of two doves in a
ba.sket on her head, half covered with a linen cloth, and hastens
towards the fountain of running water where one of the birds is to be
killed. Lev. xiv, v. 5. "And the priest shall command that one of the
birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water:
6. "As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood
101

Photograph — A nderson. ]
PURIFICATION OF A LEPER
(Cappella Sistixa, Rome)

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
and the scarlet and the hyssop, and shall dip them in the blood of the
bird that was killed over the ranning water:
j. "And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from
the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the
living bird loose into the open field."
This part of the ceremony takes place immediately in front of the
altar, where the high priest receives the blood of the dove in a golden
bowl from the hands of a young Levite, and dips a brush of green
myrtle — a plant endowed by the Mediaeval Church with the same heal
ing properties as the hyssop of the Old Testament — together with the
scarlet wood, into the blood of the victim, with which the leper is to be
sprinkled seven times before he can be pronounced cleansed from his
leprosy. The high priest, who occupies so prominent a position in the pic
ture, is represented clad in his pontifical robes, with the fringe of golden
bells and pomegranates, the jewelled breast-plate bearing the motto
" Holiness to the Lord," as described in the book of Leviticus. The
high tiara on his head is crowned with a gold acorn, the badge of the
Rovere, and his features are those of the Pope himself.
In the group of spectators standing on the right of the altar, several
prominent personages of the Papal Court are introduced, who were
probably members of the Confraternity of Santo Spirito, to which the
Pope and most of the Cardinals belonged. We recognize the features
of the Pope's nephew, the proud and hated Girolamo Riario, the hus
band of Caterina Sforza, who is seen standing in the right-hand corner
of the fresco, wrapt in a dark red mantle, and bearing his baton as
Gonfaloniere of the Church, an office to which the Pope had appointed
him a few months before. Dr. Steinmann, who has succeeded in
identifying several of these figures,1 recognizes another kinsman of the
Pope, the Commendatore di Santo Spirito and General of the Con
fraternity, Innocente della Rovere, in the stately personage standing
behind the high priest, wearing his cross and golden chain of office;
and suggests that the fair-haired woman with the long throat who
appears with her maid in the Pope's train may be Caterina Sforza her
self. On the opposite side, a few steps in advance of Girolamo Riario,
1 Op. eit., I, pp. 466-470.
102

THE SIXTINE CHAPEL

is a striking group of three dignified personages, who were probably
all members of the Sacred College. In the last of the three we recognize
the dark eyes and thoughtful face of the young Cardinal Giuliano della
Rovere, who stands here with a white napkin in his hands, and twenty
years later was to ascend the papal throne as Julius II, and to employ
Michelangelo to paint the roof of this same chapel with his immortal
frescoes. In the beautiful young
woman with her fluttering
draperies who moves swiftly
forward, carrying the bundle
of cedar wood on her head,
we recognize one of those
types which, first introduced
by Fra Filippo Lippi, in
the background of his Pitti
tondo, recur frequently in
Sandro's Florentine pic
tures, and was to appear
aeain in the fresco of the In-
cendio del Borgo, designed
by Raphael and his pupils
in the Vatican Stanze. The
curly-headed little boy at
her side, carrying a fine
bunch of purple grapes in
his arms and looking down
in alarm at the snake which
is coiled round his bare leg,
is an evident reminiscence of the antique marble statue of a Girl with
a Dove looking back at the Serpent, now in the Capitol Museum.
Other classical motives occur in the buildings of the background, while
in the tall and stately oak-trees planted on either side of the temple and
growing along the seashore, we see once more the device of the Della
Rovere family. But the most interesting objects in the landscape are
the church and convent of S. Francesco at Assisi, which rise on the
103

Cardinal Giulano d. Rovere [Photograph— Anderson
GROUP FROM THE PURIFICATION OF A
LEPER
(Cappella Sistina, Rome)

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
right of the hospital, immediately under the heights of Monte Subasio.
This sacred spot, the home and burial-place of the great founder, was
no doubt introduced, as Dr. Steinmann has pointed out, in honour of
the order to which the Pope belonged.
The different episodes of the Temptation of Christ appear in the
background, in conformity with the general scheme of decoration.
On the rocky heights, under an olive grove in the left-hand corner,
Satan, clad in the habit of a Franciscan friar, with staff and rosary in
his hand, and the cloven hoof and bat's wings peeping out from under
his monastic garb, points to the stones at the feet of the Son of God,
and asks Him to command that they should be made bread. In the
centre of the picture the devil appears again, standing on the topmost
pinnacle of the Renaissance temple, and with outstretched hand calls
upon the Christ to cast himself down. The look which he receives in
return, conveys the rebuke implied in the words: " It is written, thou
shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Finally, in the right-hand corner
of the fresco, Christ and the Tempter are seen on the top of the high
mountain, whence all the glory of the kingdoms of the world are dis
played before the eyes of the Son of God, who, lifting his hand with a
commanding gesture, utters the words: " Get thee behind me, Satan! "
At that word we see the Prince of Darkness, casting aside his friar's
habit, staff and rosary, plunge headlong into the abyss, while three
winged angels place bread and wine on a table decked with a fair white
linen cloth, and minister unto their Lord in the wilderness.
Botticelli's second fresco was an illustration of the early life of
Moses, and occupied the space on the left wall opposite the Temptation,
to which it corresponds. Here no less than seven different episodes
from the history of the Law-giver and the people of Israel had to be
combined in a single fresco. Out of this unpromising material the
painter has contrived to make a singularly beautiful and poetic com
position. With true artistic feeling he seizes on the most picturesque
incident in the story — the meeting of Moses with the daughters of
Jethro at the well — and groups the other scenes round this central
subject. We see Moses, the dark-haired stranger, drawing water in his
bucket from the well for the thirsty sheep who wait by the stone
troughs under the shady oak trees, and the Midianite shepherds
104

THE SIXTINE CHAPEL
retreating hastily, while the fair shepherdesses look with shy gratitude
in their eyes at the chivalrous Hebrew who has come to their help.
Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro, with her tall, graceful form, gentle
face and fair hair wreathed with myrtle, bearing the distaff and apple
branch — a symbol of labour and its reward — in her hands, is one of
Sandro's most attractive creations, and the whole scene is a simple and
charming idyll of pastoral life.
The other episodes are skilfully distributed so as not to interfere

Photograph— A nderson.]
MOSES AND ZIPPORAH AT THE WELL
(Cappella Sistina, Rome)
with this central motive. On the right we see Moses in the act of
slaying the Egyptian in his indignation at the ill-treatment of one of
his brethren, while the wounded Israelite falls back in the arms of his
wife. Next the avenger appears flying into the wilderness to escape
from the wrath of Pharaoh, leaving the pillared temples of Egypt
behind him. Then again he appears driving away the Midianite
shepherds— the wild Bedouins of the desert— who troubled the peace of
Jethro's daughters. Immediately above the group under the oak trees
by the well, we see him in the solitude of the desert, putting the shoes
from off his feet and kneeling before the burning bush to hear the word
105

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
of the Lord. Finally, in the foreground to the left of the picture, the
great deliverer is seen leading the chosen people out of Egypt, followed
by his wife and family bearing their household goods. Among these,
Aaron is a conspicuous figure, with his Oriental turban and black
beard; one little child looks up at his mother with the appealing gaze
that Sandro has often repeated in his pictures of Madonnas with the
Infant Christ. Anotherfair-
haired boy carries a white
dog — his chief treasure, as
Mr. Ruskin remarks in his
quaint way: "It is a little,
sharp-nosed, white fox-ter
rier, full of fire and life, but
not strong enough for a
long walk. So little Ger-
shom, whose name was the
Stranger, because his father
had been a stranger in a
strange land — little Ger-
shom carries his white ter
rier under his arm, lying on
the top of a large bundle to
make it comfortable. The
doggie puts its sharp nose
and bright eyes out, above
his hand, with a little roguish
gleam sideways in them,
which means — if I can read
rightly a dog's expression— that he has been barking at Moses all the
morning and has nearly put him out of temper; and without any doubt
I can assert to you that there is not any other such piece of animal
painting in the world— so brief, intense, vivid, and absolutely balanced
in truth; as tenderly drawn as if it had been a Saint, and yet as
humorously as Landseer's Lord Chancellor Poodle." 1
In point of simple charm and animation, this fresco oi Moses at the
1 "Ariadne Florentina," p. 262.
106

Photograph— A nderson.]
GROUP FROM THE LIFE OF MOSES
(Cappella Sistina, Rome)

THE SIXTINE CHAPEL
Well is unique among Sandro's compositions and surpasses all the
other subjects painted on the walls ofthe Sixtine Chapel. Unfortunately
it has been sadly injured by the erection of a baldacchino over the Papal
throne, and the figures in the right-hand portion have been repainted.
The Punishment of Korah, Dathan and Abiram is the subject of
Botticelli's third and last fresco. " Let no man take office upon himself,
unless he be called of God, as Aaron was." These words of the Latin
text are inscribed on the arch of Constantine, which stands in the centre
of the picture, and strike the keynote of the composition. This subject,
according to Dr. Steinmann, was suggested by the revolt of the Arch
bishop of Krain, a Hungarian prelate who had dared to summon a
General Council at Bale in March, 1482, in open defiance of the Papal
authority, and had openly denounced Pope Sixtus IV as a "child of
the devil." A retribution as swift and sudden as the judgement of Korah
soon overtook him and his friends. The rebellious archbishop was
arrested before many months were over, and committed suicide in his
prison at Basle. As Sandro had already glorified the Pope's munificence
and splendour, as a friend of the sick and builder of hospitals, in his
first fresco; and as he had recorded the deliverance of Rome from the in
vading army of the Duke of Calabria in the Triumph of Moses over the
Egyptians, so now he was called upon to commemorate this fresh proof
ofthe divine authority which was committed to the successors ofthe Prince
ofthe Apostles, when he painted the new fresco on the wall opposite Peru-
gino's Delivery ofthe Keys to St. Peter. The grand and imposing figure
of Moses, who, robed in a rich, dark green mantle bordered with gold,
stands before the altar set in front of the arch of Constantine, and,
liftino- his avenging- rori calls down fire from heaven on the rebels,
lends the composition a certain unity which is lacking in Sandro's other
frescoes. The destruction of the guilty conspirators who have dared to
assume the priestly office in plain disregard of the law of Moses, is
rendered with dramatic vigour. One man is struck down in the act of
approaching the altar of sacrifice, another falls back with a cry of terror
before the uplifted rod of Moses, and a third lies prostrate on the
ground, while Aaron, a majestic figure in his priestly robes and triple
tiara, is seen standing behind the altar, calmly swinging his censer.
His son Eleazar, seizing one of the censers from the altar, scatters the
107

SANDRO BOTTICELLI

sacrilegious fire with a gesture of swift and fiery zeal, and on the right,
one of the blasphemers is dragged away to be stoned by a crowd of
indignant Israelites. On the left, Moses appears again, standing with
his uplifted arm above the open abyss where Dathan and Abiram are being
swallowed up, while Eldad and Medad, robed in white, hover in the air
above and prophesy in the name of the Lord. This tresco is remark
able for the richness of the
colouring and costumes, the
beauty of the landscape set
ting with its wooded hills
gently sloping to the sea,
and the noble porticoes and
colonnades, which are intro
duced in the background.
Many heads of striking indi
viduality meet us in the
throng of spectators, as
sembled on the right of the
picture as well as in the
opposite corner. Several of
these are evidentlyportraits.
The blasphemer whom we
see in the right hand
dragged away to die wear
ing a rich fur collar and red
mantle over his priestly
robe, is the revolted Arch
bishop Andreas of Krain,
and in the striking head of the youth, with the long nose and curly
hair, standing by his tutor's side in the opposite corner, at the feet of
the white-robed elders, we may recognize Alessandro Farnese, who
was afterwards raised to the dignities of both Cardinal and Pope, and
was to become known to history as Paul III.1 Yet one more figure,
the second in the group on the right, is supposed by Dr. Steinmann to
1 "Die Sixtinische Kapelle," Dr. E. Steinmann, vol. i, p. 511.
IOS

Photograph — Anderson.]
GROUP OF THE BLASPHEMER FROM THE
PUNISHMENT OF KORAH
(Cappella Sistixa)

THE SIXTINE CHAPEL
be the painter's own portrait. The deep-set eyes and finely-cut features
have the same keen, eager expression as in the portrait of the Uffizi
Adoration, and Sandro's black cape and dark vest are conspicuous by
their simplicity, among the scarlet robes and splendid apparel of the
Cardinals and dignitaries who are present.
These three frescoes, which Botticelli painted on the walls of the
Sixtine Chapel during the years 148 1 and 1482, are among his most
remarkable achievements. They reveal at once the profound influence

Photograph. —Anderson.]

S^-scro Botticelli

MOSES FROM THE PUNISHMENT OF KORAH
(Cappella Sistina, Rome)

which the classical monuments of ancient Rome had produced upon his
art, and his increased mastery in the rendering of form and movement,
and the expression of human emotion. They remain the most varied and
dramatic of all his works, and reveal more of his power as a creative
and original genius, than any other of his compositions. And they
show his supremacy among contemporary artists, whether his rivals
were of Florentine or Umbrian race. It is true that the works which
Sandro painted in the Pope's chapel fall short in some respects of
those that were executed by his fellow-artists. They lack the calm
109

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
repose and aerial space of Perugino's compositions, and the symmetrical
arrangement and unity which lend a certain air of grandeur to Ghir-
landajo's more prosaic creations. But in wealth and variety of imagina
tive conception, in beauty of type and picturesque detail, in vigorous
action and subtlety of expression, in depth and intensity of emotion,
Sandro's frescoes far excel the works executed by his companions in
the Chapel of Pope Sixtus.

no

CHAPTER XI
1482
Botticelli returns to Florence. — His habits and character. — Love of his pupils.— Filippino
Lippi's frescoes in the Carmine.— Portrait of Sandro introduced.— Anecdotes ofthe painter
related by Vasari and the Anonimo Gaddiano.
WE learn from the chronicler of the Papal court, Jacopo da Vol
terra, that the decoration of the Sixtine Chapel was completed
by the month of August, 1483. On the 10th of July, being the Vigil of
the Feast of St. Lawrence, the Pope, whose impatience could no longer
be restrained, paid an unexpected visit to the chapel to see how the work
was progressing, and found the frescoes almost finished. A month later,
on the Feast of the Assumption, the Chapel was solemnly opened by
his Holiness. Crowds of visitors were admitted to see the sanctuary
which had been adorned by the foremost of living masters.1 Sandro
Botticelli's share in the work was probably completed some months,
although it is doubtful if he can have returned to Florence before the
end of 1482.
The arrest and death of the revolted Archbishop of Krain, which,
as Dr. Steinmann has shown, was the incident illustrated in Sandro's
fresco of the Punishment of Korah, did not take place until December,
1482; and it is, therefore, hardly possible that this part of the painter's
work in the Papal Chapel was finished much before Christmas.
According to Vasari, Pope Sixtus, no mean authority in artistic
matters, was highly satisfied with Botticelli's frescoes, and gave the
painter "a considerable sum of money, recognizing that he had sur
passed all his peers and acquired greater fame and reputation than any
of the competitors. But unfortunately," the biographer continues,
"Sandro, with his usual recklessness, squandered all the money that
he had earned in Rome, and having finished that part of the work
1 "Muratori," R. I. S., vol. xxiii, p. 185.
I I I

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
which was assigned to him, and seen it uncovered, he returned suddenly
to Florence." That Botticelli was a dreamy and unpractical person, set
ting little store on money and careless of personal advantage or honour,
we can well believe. But Vasari's account of his idle and extravagant
habits is probably as much exaggerated as his repeated assertions that
the painter abandoned his work, and consequently fell into dire poverty
in later years.
The historian, however, does full justice to Sandro's genial temper
and to the great affection which he cherished not only for his own
pupils, but for all those who loved and studied art. " He loved beyond
measure those whom he knew to be diligent students of art." As a
natural result, the great master was popular with all the young painters
in Florence. Even scholars in the rival workship, Bartolommeo di
Giovanni and the young Michelangelo Buonarroti, both of whom re
ceived their first training from Ghirlandajo, were on friendly terms with
Botticelli, and the former worked for many years as his assistant. The
most distinguished of all his pupils, Filippino, showed his affection for
his master by introducing a portrait of Sandro into his first important
work, the frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel of the Carmine. The task
of finishing this series of paintings, which had been interrupted by the
early death of Masaccio in 1428, was assigned to Sandro's promising
scholar by the Carmelite friars, who were anxious to complete the decora
tion of their convent church and had not forgotten that Filippino's
father had once been a brother of their Order. The young painter may
have received this commission while Botticelli and Ghirlandajo were still
absent, and probably executed the second fresco, which represents the
Crucifixion of St. Peter, soon after his master's return from Rome.
Many of the leading personages of the Medici circle, who were closely
associated with Sandro, figure in these works of Filippino. Among the
portraits introduced in Masaccio's unfinished painting of the Raising of
the King's Son, Vasari mentions Luigi Pulci, the poet of the Morgante
Maggiore and of Lorenzo's " Giostra," whose great epic had only
recently appeared in print for the first time ; Piero Guicciardini, the
kinsman of the historian, who left his books so reluctantly to joust with
the gay Giuliano; and Tommaso Soclerini, the first cousin ofthe Mag
nifico, and one of Sandro's most intimate friends. The painter Antonio
112

ANECDOTES OF THE PAINTER
Pollaiuolo, a tall man with a high cap and long nose, appears in the
next fresco of the Trial of St. Peter and St. Paul, standing close by
the throne of the Emperor Nero, while Botticelli stands in front of the
archway, which connects this subject with that ofthe Crucifixion of St.
Peter, watching the scene of martyrdom. He wears a long red mantle,
green leggings, and has a gray cap on his head; while in the profile
of his face we recognize the same strongly-marked features, deep-set
eyes, and long locks, as, standing a little apart from the crowd, he fixes
his gaze intently on the scene before him.
But this earnest, serious man, who pondered so deeply over the
gravest themes, and whose fairest faces are clouded with the same
shadow of majestic sadness, could be gay enough at times. Sandro,
writes Vasari, was a very pleasant person — " Fu Sandro persona molto
piacevole" — famous for the merry sayings and practical jokes in which
he frequently indulged with his friends and pupils. The biographer
proceeds to recount several of these for our benefit.
On one occasion, Biagio Tucci, an artist who worked with him for
many years, and was associated with him in several .important occa
sions, painted a replica of one of his master's most popular pictures — a
tondo of the Madonna with eight life-sized angels, which, in Vasari's
days, adorned the Church of San Francesco, outside the gates of San
Miniato. Sandro succeeded in finding him a customer who promised to
give six florins for the picture, and hastened to tell Biagio the good
news. At the same time he advised his pupil to hang up the Madonna
in a good light, and promised to bring the citizen, who had agreed to
buy the picture, to see it the next morning. Biagio was overjoyed at
his good fortune and readily followed his master's advice. But that
evening, when Biagio had gone home, Sandro and another of his assist
ants, Jacopo by name, cut out eight scarlet paper caps, such as were
worn by the chief magistrates, and with the help of a little white wax,
fixed them on the heads of the eight angels who were grouped round
the Madonna in Biagio's tondo. The painter returned the next morning
and Sandro introduced the citizen who had promised to buy the picture,
and who was in the secret. Great was Biagio's amazement when he saw
that his Madonna, instead of being surrounded by angels, was sitting
in the midst of the Signory of Florence. He began to make excuses
113 Q-

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
and protest his ignorance of the alteration in his picture, but the
merchant took no notice and began to praise the work. So Biagio re
mained silent and accompanied his customer to his house, where the
artist received the six florins which had been agreed upon as the price
of the picture. When Biagio returned to the bottega, he found that
Sandro and Jacopo had removed the red paper caps in his absence, and
that his angels were once more angels, and no longer hooded citizens.
For a while the poor artist remained stupefied, unable to understand
what could have happened. At length he turned to Sandro, saying:
"Maestro mio, I know not if I am dreaming or where I am! when I
was here before, these angels had red caps on their heads and now they
have none — what can this mean?" "You are out of your mind, my
poor Biagio," replied Sandro gravely. " This money has turned your
head. If this were the case, do you suppose for a moment that this
citizen would have bought your picture?" "That is true," replied
Biagio; "he certainly did not say a word of this to me; but still it
seems a very strange thing." In the end, all the other apprentices and
assistants came round him, saying the same as Sandro, until Biagio
began to think that he. had been the victim of some delusion of his own
brain. Another time, a clothweaver came to live next door to Sandro, and
put up eight looms in his house, which, when they were at work, not
only deafened poor Sandro with the noise of the shuttles, but shook
the whole house, which was none too solidly built, so that the painter
could not do any work Or even remain in the house. In vain he begged
his neighbour to remedy his grievance, but the man replied that he
could and would do as he chose in his own house. Upon this Sandro,
filled with indignation, caused an enormous stone, "which would have
been a waggon-load of itself," to be balanced on the wall of his own
house, which was higher than that of his neighbour and not by any
means firm. Every time the wall shook, this stone was in danger of
falling, and of crushing not only the roofs and floors ofthe house, but the
looms and the weavers who were at work, to the dismay of the trouble
some neighbour. Terrified at this new peril, the man hastened to Sandro,
but received the same reply which he himself had made before, namely,
that in his own house he could and would do as he pleased. Since he was
114

ANECDOTES OF THE PAINTER
unable to obtain any other answer, he was obliged to come to reasonable
terms, and from that time proved a good and peaceable neighbour.
"And it is also said," continues Vasari, "that on one occasion,
Sandro, by way of a joke, went to the vicar of his parish and accused
one of his friends of holding the heretical opinions of the Epicureans,
and believing that the soul dies with the body. The injured citizen
summoned his accuser to meet him before the ecclesiastical court, and
when Sandro appeared, he exclaimed: ' It is true that I hold this opinion
concerning this man's soul, who is a beast. And do you not also hold
him to be a heretic, since without being learned, and hardly indeed
knowing how to read, he has ventured to write a commentary on Dante
and take the poet's name in vain? ' " The anecdote is worthy of note
as showing Botticelli's interest in theological questions and his well-
known love of Dante, whose " Divina Commedia" he certainly illus
trated, in a manner which proves that he had studied the text very closely,
if he did not actually write a commentary on the great poem.
But the best of these stories of Sandro is told by the Anonimo
Gaddiano. One day his intimate friend, Messer Tommaso Soderini,
a favourite cousin and loyal follower of Lorenzo dei Medici was
urging him to marry before it was too late. The painter steadily
refused to be persuaded, and when Messer Tommaso still pressed the
point he replied: " I will tell you what happened to me the other night.
I dreamt that I was married, and the bare idea made me feel so miser
able, that for fear I should fall asleep and dream the same dream over
again, I got up and rushed about the streets of Florence all night, as
if I were a madman!" "After that sally," adds the writer, "Messer
Tommaso saw that this was not the kind of soil to plant a vineyard in." '
Instances of Sandro's power of repartee and shrewd, if not always
civil, answers, were evidently commonly repeated by his contemporaries.
On one occasion, continues the Anonimo, he said to a certain person
who had expressed a wish that he had a hundred tongues with which
to defend his arguments, "You say that you want more tongues, as if
you had not already more than you require ! You had better wish for
more brains, poor fool, as it is very clear that you were born with

none!

C. de Fabriczy, "II Codice dell' Anonimo Gaddiano," Archivio Storico Italiano, 1893.

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
A dreamer and a mystic at heart, yet a gay and lively companion,
the best of masters and truest of friends, with a kind heart and keen
sense of humour, full of sympathy for promising scholars and of love
for little children, taking delight in the society of his intimate friends,
but loving his books still better, spending freely and giving largely,
strong in his likes and dislikes, deeply religious but a stern foe to cant
and hypocrisy, passionate in his enthusiasm for great leaders and lost
causes — such was Sandro Botticelli, the favourite painter of Lorenzo
dei Medici and the faithful follower of Savonarola.

116

CHAPTER XII
1483— 1489
Botticelli works for the Signoria and Lorenzo dei Medici. — His frescoes at the Villa of Speda-
letto. — A Milanese agent's report of Sandro and his contemporaries to Lodovico Sforza.
— Frescoes of the Villa Lemmi. — Wedding of Lorenzo Tornabuoni and Giovanna degli
Albizzi. — Boccaccio pictures in Casa Pucci. — Myths and historical subjects painted by
Botticelli's assistants.
WHEN Botticelli returned from Rome he stood at the height of
his renown. He was thirty-eight years of age, in the prime of
manhood and the full maturity of his powers. His frescoes in the Papal
Chapel had brought him new fame, and now Leonardo had left Florence
to find a home at the Court of Milan, Sandro held the foremost place
among artists, alike in the favour of Lorenzo dei Medici and in the
estimation of his contemporaries. His old friends welcomed him warmly;
new and honourable commissions flowed in on all sides. On the 5th of
October, 1482, it may be while he was still at work in the Sixtine
Chapel, he engaged to execute an order from the Signoria to adorn a
hall in the Palazzo Pubblico with frescoes. His two most distinguished
fellow-workers in the Pope's Chapel, Ghirlandajo and Perugino, were
associated with him in this new task, together with his own assistant,
Biagio di Antonio Tucci, the poor artist who was the victim of his
practical jokes, but to whom he showed so much real kindness. The
decree of the Signoria is quoted by Gaye from the Archives,1 but we
never learn if the commission was executed, and only know that in
1487, Sandro painted a. tondo for the Hall of Audience belonging to the
Council of the Massari. Unfortunately this picture has perished, as
well as the still more important works which Botticelli executed about
the same time for his old patron, Lorenzo dei Medici.
During the next few years he was chiefly engaged in working for
the Magnifico, who employed him and his pupil Filippino as well as
1 Gaye, " Carteggio," vol. i, p. 573.
117

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
his two old rivals, Ghirlandajo and Perugino, to paint another great
series of frescoes in the Lo Spedaletto near Volterra. This country
house, on the heights looking over the valley of Pontedera, had formerly
belonged to the Frati Ospitalieri of Siena, an order of nursing brothers
founded in the eleventh century, and still retained its original name of
Lo Spedaletto. It was a favourite residence of Lorenzo, who found the
pure mountain air beneficial to his health, and drank the waters of
Bagno di Morba, a medicinal spring in the neighbourhood, by the advice
of his physician. During the last years of his life, he spent some weeks
at this villa every autumn, and often received distinguished visitors and
emissaries from Rome and Milan. "lam here, according to my cus
tom," he writes to the papal envoy, Jacopo Gherardi, in October, 1487,
"for the care of my health," and in August, 1491, only a few months
before his death, he had himself carried in a litter on a last visit to this
favourite retreat.
The importance of the frescoes with which Botticelli and his com
panions decorated the halls of this old Medici villa in the pleasant hill
country of Volterra is proved by a report that was sent about the year
1487 or 1488 to Lodovico Sforza, by one of his agents. This cultured
prince, who frequently consulted il Magnifico in matters relating to art,
and had already taken Leonardo into his service, now desired his envoy
to send him the names of the best painters in Florence, who could be
trusted to decorate the Castello of Milan. In reply, the Milanese agent
sent his master the following list of the best artists who were then living
in Florence, together with remarks on the different degrees of estima
tion in which they were respectively held. It is worthy of notice that
Botticelli holds the foremost place in this record.
" Sandro di Botticello, a most excellent painter, both in panel and
wall-painting. His figures have a manly air, and are admirable in con
ception and proportion. Filippino di Frato Filippo, an excellent scholar
of the above-named master, and a son of the rarest master of our day.
His heads have an air of greater sweetness, but in my opinion less art.
// Perugino, a rare master, who excels in wall-paintings, and whose
figures have an air of most angelic sweetness. Domenico de Grillandajo,
a great master in panel painting, and a still better one in wall-painting.
His figures are good, and he is an active and diligent master, who pro-
118

LO SPEDALETTO
duces a great quantity of works. All of the said masters, excepting
Filippino, have given proof of their excellence in the Chapel of Pope
Sixtus, and all four have since that time worked in Lo Spedaletto ofthe
Magnifico Lorenzo. It is doubtful which one of them deserves the
palm." This interesting letter, which was recently discovered in the
Milanese archives by Professor Muller- Walde,' and was apparently
written during Lorenzo's lifetime, is of especial interest as a record of
contemporary opinion, and gives a remarkably fair and accurate judge
ment of the respective merits of these distinguished masters. The high
esteem in which both Fra Filippo Lippi and his pupil, Botticelli, were
held at the time is especially striking.
We learn from Vasari that, as might be expected, the subjects
which Lorenzo chose for the decoration of the Great Hall in his villa,
were classical myths. Ghirlandajo, he tells us, painted a fresco of the
Story of Vulcan in Lo Spedaletto, "and represents many nude figures
forging the thunderbolts of Jove with their mighty hammers." From
this we may conclude that Lorenzo's own dramatic poem of "The
Loves of Mars and Venus," in which Vulcan figures as one of the prin
cipal speakers, and a description of his forge is introduced, was among
the subjects which Sandro and his comrades painted on the villa walls.
Unfortunately these frescoes have long ago disappeared.
At his death in 1492, Lorenzo left the house and estate of Lo
Spedaletto to his favourite daughter, Maddalena, the wife of Pope
Innocent the Eighth's nephew, Francesco Cybo, of whom he speaks
with so much affection in his letters, calling her "the apple of her
mother's eye." From Maddalena's descendants it passed, a hundred
years later, to the Corsini family, who are still the owners ofthe property.
Cardinal Retz, who paid a visit to the Grand Duke, Ferdinand II, in
1654, mentions the villa of Lo Spedaletto in the following passage of
his " Memoirs ":
"Signor Annibale conducted me to a house called L'Hospitalita,
near Volterra, which is built upon the field of battle where Catiline was
killed. This house once belonged to the great Lorenzo dei Medici, and
has passed by marriage to the house of Corsini. I stayed there nine
1 "Jahrbuch der Koniglichen Preussischen Kunst," 1897.
119

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
days, during which time I was magnificently entertained by the Grand
Duke's officers." 1
Giovanni Bottari, who held the post of Librarian to Cardinal
Corsini in the next century, adds a note regarding the frescoes of Lo
Spedaletto, to the edition of 1759, saying that these paintings were in a
portico that was exposed to the damp air, and have accordingly suffered
much. Early in the last century, between 1820 and 1830, the Sala
Grande of the Villa was destroyed by fire, and a few traces of colour
on the brick loggia in the courtyard are the only fragments now remain
ing of these once famous paintings. A better fete has attended two of
the frescoes which Sandro painted at Chiasso Macerelli, near Careggi,
to commemorate the wedding of the young Lorenzo Tornabuoni with
the beautiful Giovanna degli Albizzi. The bridegroom was the son of
the wealthy Giovanni Tornabuoni, the uncle of Lorenzo, and senior
partner of the Medici bank, as well as its chief agent in Rome, and was
himself a brilliant and cultivated youth, intimately connected with the
leading humanists of the Medici circle, and to their premier scholar.
From his boyhood Lorenzo Tornabuoni sat at the feet of Angelo
Poliziano; and to him the teacher inscribed his poem of "Ambra," the
third ofthe "Silvae," in a dedication, calling him the friend of the Muses,
and extolling his wide learning and excellent knowledge of Greek and
Latin. When this accomplished young man led home the lovely
daughter of Maso degli Albizzi, whose charms were sung by all the poets
of Florence, there was great rejoicing among the Medici and their
friends. "These things," writes Bernardo Racellai, "are necessary in
a wife: she must be of good birth, beautiful, and endowed with a good
dowry," All three conditions were amply fulfilled in this case, and
Giovanni Tornabuoni had every reason to commend his son's choice.
The wedding was celebrated on the 25th of June, i486, and the two
illustrious families vied with each other in the splendour of the banquets,
tournaments, and torchlight dances, at which the guests were entertained.
The Spanish ambassador to the Pope was present at the ceremony, and
the bride was escorted to the Duomo by a hundred maidens of the
noblest families in Florence, and fifteen youths wearing the liveries and
colours of the Albizzi.
1 " Memoires," vol. iv, p. 246.
120

VILLA LEMMI
While Ghirlandajo, the favourite painter of the rich and prosperous
banker, was employed to decorate the chapel of the Villa Tornabuoni
at Chiasso Macerelli with frescoes, the finer taste of Lorenzo led him to
choose Botticelli to adorn the hall of this country-house with allegorical
subjects, in honour of his marriage. In this rural retreat, among the
olives and cypresses of the hillside on the banks of the Terzolle stream,
looking across at the heights of Fiesole and the blue Apennines in the
distance, Sandro painted his two beautiful frescoes on the piano nobile

Photograph —A nderson.]
LORENZO TORNABUONI WELCOMED BY THE LIBERAL
ARTS
(Fresco, Louvre)
of the villa to which the young Tornabuoni brought home the fair
Giovanna. His friend Poliziano, we may be sure, had a share in the
composition of the two paintings which were to commemorate the
learning of Lorenzo and the beauty of his bride, just as he was after
wards employed by Giovanni Tornabuoni to write the Latin inscription
on Ghirlandajo's frescoes in the family chapel of Santa Maria Novella.
In one painting, the bridegroom, a noble and refined youth, wear
ing a violet robe and a red cap on his long fair locks, is introduced into
the presence of the Seven Liberal Arts, whose help and favour he seeks.
121 R

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
But instead of representing the different members of the Trivium and
Ouadrivium, in separate subjects, each with her special attribute, as
Giotto, the painter of the Spanish Chapel had done before, Botticelli
with consummate skill combines them all in a single group, and gives
us a beautiful picture. Seven bright-haired maidens, sitting in the shade
of a laurel grove, receive the youthful stranger, who comes to seek their
favour, with gracious smiles and courteous greeting. Each bears her
own symbol. On the one side we see Arithmetic with a table of figures
in her hand; Grammar bearing a scorpion and a Switch; and Rhetoric
with a scroll unfolded on her knees. On the other side we have
Geometry, with a square resting upon her shoulder; next to her,
Astronomy, holding a globe, and Music with a small organ and tam
bourine in her hands. Dialectic, the youngest of the group, leading
Lorenzo by the hand, presents him to Philosophy, the Queen of all the
Sciences, who, throned above the rest, and wearing a white robe and
veil adorned with golden tongues of flame, bids the friend of the Muses
welcome in her sister's name. This fresco has been sadly damaged, the
pillars of the Temple of Science, in the background, are almost entirely
effaced, and nothing, excepting his curly head, is now left of the little
Love who once bore the shield with the Tornabuoni arms, at the feet of
Lorenzo. In the companion subject, we see the Graces, three lovely maidens
with slender forms and wistful faces, hastening joyously to meet
Lorenzo's fair and virtuous bride, on the threshold of her future home.
Clad in delicately tinted robes of mauve and green and yellow, with
golden hair floating on their shoulders and hands outstretched in eager
welcome, these gentle damsels bring their gifts of Chastity, Beauty,
and Love, under the symbol of opening flowers, to lay before Giovanna,
who, standing under a portico, receives their offerings in a white hand
kerchief. The lovely features and auburn locks of the Florentine
beauty have been reproduced by more than one contemporary artist.
Niccolo Fiorentino, the favourite medallist of the Medici, has repre
sented her, with the Three Graces, and the words, " Castitas, Pul-
chritudo, Amor" on the reverse of the medal. Ghirlandajo has painted
her twice over; once in M. Rudolf Kami's superb portrait, with her
finely-cut features in profile, and a string of red coral beads hansine on
122

VILLA LEMMI
the wall behind, and again in his fresco of the Visitation in the choir
of Santa Maria Novella, clad in a rich costume, with pearls twisted
among the coils of her elaborate head-dress. Sandro, on the contrary,
has represented her in the simple red robe that she wore at home, with a
transparent veil on her rippling hair, and the same string of pearls round
her throat, that she wears in Niccolo's medal and Ghirlandajo's portrait.
But the simplicity of her attire and the severe lines of the flowing robe
seem to heighten the grace of Giovanna's bearing, and the sweet
seriousness of her expression lends Sandro's portrait a charm which is

Photograph— A nderson, ]
GIOVANNA TORNABUONI AND THE THREE GRACES
(Louvre)
lackino- in these other representations. Unfortunately this fresco is even
more badly damaged than the companion subject; the colour has peeled
off in places, and the background has almost disappeared. Only a stem
or two of the trees of the garden, and a fountain of antique pattern
spouting water, on the left of the group, remain to be seen, while the
roo-uish little Love, with bow and arrow, bearing the Albizzi's coat of
arms, at Giovanni's feet, has been half effaced.
The wonder is that any portion of these beautiful works of art are
now remaining, when we remember the vicissitudes which they have
experienced, since the day when Sandro painted them in the fair Tuscan
123

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
villa. In 1541, the country house of the Tornabuoni passed into other
hands, and the frescoes upon which the Florentine master had lavished
so much thought and skill, were hidden under a coat of whitewash,
which was only removed in 1873, after an interval of three hundred
years. The villa was at that time the property of Dr. Lemmi, when,
by a lucky accident, the fragments of Sandro's frescoes were first dis
covered, and his long-lost creations were once more brought to light.
On the opposite wall, traces of a third painting were also found, con
taining the portrait of the bridegroom's father, Giovanni Tornabuoni,
with a little girl, probably his young daughter Lodovica, who figures
in Ghirlandajo's frescoes, decked in a sumptuous robe of gold brocade.
Nine years later, in 18S4, the two frescoes described above were sold to
the French Government and removed to the Louvre, where they now
occupy a conspicuous place at the head of the staircase leading to the
Picture Gallery. Even in their present ruined condition, torn away as
they have been from their beautiful surroundings in the Florentine
villa, Sandro's compositions have a grace and a freshness which nothing
can destroy. The same tragic fate which attended Giuliano and his beloved
mistress, overtook the youthful pair whose happy union is celebrated
in these frescoes. Giovanna died a few years after her marriage, in
giving birth to a third child; and in August, 1497, when he was
only thirty-two, her husband was put to death with four other leading
citizens, Bernardo del Nero, Niccolo Ridolfi, Giovanni Cambi, and
Giannozzo Pucci, for conspiring to bring back Piero dei Medici. It
was a political crime for which the Piagnoni leaders were to pay dearly,
and the untimely end of this brilliant and popular youth was lamented
by citizens of every rank and opinion.
"And so these five men were condemned," writes that staunch
follower of Fra Girolamo, the chemist Luca Landucci, "to the grief
of the whole city. Everyone wondered at this, and could hardly believe
such a thing to be possible. And they were put to death the same
night, and I could not help shedding tears when I saw that young
Lorenzo borne past the Tornaquinci houses on a bier. . . . But all
things are in the hands of God.1 May His will be done! " Such were
1 " Diario florentina da Luca Landucci," p. 157.
I24

CASA PUCCI
the sharp and sudden changes which startled the hearts of Florentine
citizens in those troubled times. Well might the poet sing:
Di doman non c' e' certezza.
Another wedding which excited great interest among the friends
of the Medici was that of Pier Francesco Bini and Lucrezia, the
daughter of Lorenzo's strong and loyal supporter Francesco Pucci.
Their nuptials took place in 1487, a year after Lorenzo Tornabuoni's
marriage, and Botticelli, who had displayed his skill in so remarkable
a manner on that occasion, was desired to paint four panels for the
decoration of a cassone or wedding chest. Vasari, who saw these
paintings in Casa Pucci, describes them as consisting of small figures,
in which Boccaccio's novella of Nastagio degli Onesti is told in four
pictures, "di pittura molto vaga e bella." The panels bear the arms of
the Pucci and Bini family, quartered with the diamond rings and palle
of the Medici to which these houses were allied, and three laurel boughs
in honour of the Magnifico are introduced in the shields painted on
the pillars of the banquet hall in the last panel, representing the mar
riage feast. This time the theme selected by the Pucci, as Vasari has
recorded, was Boccaccio's weird tale of Nastagio degli Onesti's loves,
and the spectral huntsman, whose hounds are still said to haunt the
pine forest of Ravenna. Sandro himself no doubt designed these panels,
which are marked by all the charm of his fancy, and probably himself
superintended their execution in his bottega. But the greater part of
the actual painting is the work of his scholars, and Mr. Berenson has
recently pronounced them to be the joint production of Jacopo del
Sellajo and of Ghirlandajo's old pupil, Bartolommeo di Giovanni,1 who
had lately passed into the rival workshop and become one of Sandro's
most able assistants. The romantic scene of the banquet in the forest,
suddenly interrupted by the appearance of the spectral huntsman and
the hounds devouring the naked bride, with the pines growing along
the seashore and the dishes and goblets falling off the table in confu
sion, was evidently designed by Botticelli himself. The weird tale must
have appealed to his imagination in a peculiar manner, and here and
there we seem to recognize his own hand in some face or form, such,
1 "Alunno di Domenico," "Burlington Magazine," March, 1903.
125

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
for instance, as the charming figure of Nastagio's mistress, in the act of
rising from the festive board, struck with horror at the sight before her
eyes. These interesting panels were long the property ofthe well-known
connoisseur, Mr. Leyland, after whose death the series was dispersed.
Three of them are now in the collection of M. Spiridion of Paris; the
fourth, representing Nastagio's wedding feast, is still in this country
and belongs to Mr. Vernon Watney.
A large number of similar paintings, dealing with the myths of
Ovid or the romances of mediaeval times, were produced in Florence
during the last decades of the fifteenth century. Most of these were
executed by Botticelli's pupils, who took cartoons or sketches of their
master, and adapted them freely to their own uses. Such, for instance,
was the painting of the allegory of Abundance at Chantilly, in which
some unknown scholar has taken the figure in Sandro's beautiful draw
ing of the Malcolm collection, and added the child running before the
woman carrying faggots, from the fresco of the Purification of the
Leper in the Sixtine Chapel. Such, too, were Bartolommeo di Gio
vanni's panels oi Jason at Colchis, formerly in the Ashburnham collec
tion; his Battle of the Centaurs and Lapithae, belonging to Mrs.
Austen at Horsmonden; his Story of lo at Langton in Scotland, and
his Marriage of Thetis and Triumph of Venus in the Louvre.1 We may
also recall the fascinating panels of the History of Esther at Chantilly
and the Death, of Lticrezia in the Pitti, by that scholar of Botticelli
whom Mr. Berenson has dubbed Amico di Sandro; and the delightful
Story of Orpheus and Eurydice, a subject plainly suggested by Polizi
ano's successful drama of Orfeo, painted by Jacopo del Sellajo, and
recently exhibited at the Carfax Gallery in London. These panels,
most of which were intended for the decoration of wedding-chests and
other furniture, are of great interest as illustrating the domestic life of
contemporary Florence, and showing the close and increasing connec
tion that' existed between the humanists and painters of Lorenzo's
times. To us they are of especial value because they afford a fresh
proof of Sandro's sympathy with the intellectual tendencies of his age,
and of the singular attraction which the classical myths of Greece and
Rome had for this Renaissance master. And they show that his treat-
1 Berenson in the "Burlington Magazine," 1903, p. 12.
126

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A COMING CHANGE
ment of these old legends, so far removed from Greek art, so wholly
individual in style and character, appealed in a peculiar manner to the
imagination of his contemporaries, and had, during the painter's life
time, acquired an extraordinary popularity in his native city. But, ere
long, a great and sudden change was to pass over the life of Florence,
and in that change Sandro was to bear his part, and take his place in
the front rank of the new movement. The painter of Giuliano's Giostra
and Lorenzo's Pallas, of the Venus and Primavera, the intimate friend
of Poliziano and Tommaso Soderini, was to become a Piagnone or
"sniveller" — a partisan of the sect of Fra Girolamo, as Vasari con
temptuously terms it — and was to devote the art of his last days to the
cause of Christ and the Frate.

127

CHAPTER XIII
1484— 1488
Botticelli as a painter of Madonnas. — Chronology of his tondi and altar-pieces. — The Magnificat.
— The Poldi-Pezzoli Madonna. — The Madonna of the Pomegranate. — The Bardi and S. Bar-
nabk altar-pieces. — The Coronation ofthe Virgin in San Marco. — Probable date of its exe
cution. — Recent theories on the subject.
BOTTICELLI is pre-eminently the artist of a transitional period.
He stands at a point where the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
meet, and Gothic and classical motives are blended together in Florentine
art. If, on the one side, he handles antique myths in the mystic fashion
of mediaeval poets, with the quaint grace of a Chaucer or a Spenser, on
the other he brings the study of Nature and knowledge of classical art
to adorn the Christian themes which were still popular in his day. In
this once more he reflects the intellectual tendencies of the age, the
aspirations of the Platonists of Lorenzo's Court, who, like Marsilio
Ficino and Pico della Mirandola strove to prove that the doctrines of
Christ and Plato were the same. Christian traditions were still supreme
in art, and while Sandro acquired renown as the painter of classical
myths, dear to the humanists of the Medici circle, at the same time he
excelled in the representation of sacred subjects and execution of altar-
pieces for churches and convents. We have seen in how many different
forms he repeated his favourite theme of the Adoration of the Magi,
during the earlier part of his career; we must now consider the altar-
pieces and tondi of Madonnas with Saints and Angels, which belong to
his later years. However popular Botticelli's renderings of Greek gods
and goddesses, of nymphs and heroes, may have been in his lifetime, it
is as the painter of Madonnas that he is above all remembered to-day.
In the absence of dates and documents, it is impossible to speak
positively of the exact order in which Sandro's well-known Madonnas
were painted. It is a question on which the best critics seldom agree,
128

S poo ner.

MADONNA AND CHILD WITH
Louvre

JOHX.

MAGNIFICAT. Uffizi, Florence.

THE MAGNIFICAT

and which still remains in the main uncertain. We can only put
together the little information that is to be found for our guidance, and
draw our conclusions accordingly. With the exception of the damaged
fresco ofthe Madonna della Vannella and of the Chigi picture, no works
of this description from Sandro's early period have come down to us.
The Madonnas which formerly bore his name at Naples, in the Spedale
degli Innocenti of Florence,
and at Santa Maria Nuova,
were undoubtedly executed
by his scholars, and one of
the most popular, the Virgin
with the Child and the In
fant St. John, in the Louvre
(No. 1296), is now recog
nized to be the work of an
inferior hand. This ill-
drawn but attractive group,
with its lovely background
of roses and cypresses, was
evidently executed by a fol
lower of Botticelli, in the
days when the artist's fame
was at its height, from one
of his master's old cartoons.
A considerable number of
donnas, and an infinite
amount of imitations and
repetitions by scholars and assistants, on the contrary, belong to the
last twenty years of Sandro's artistic career. But it is a difficult, not to
say impossible, task, to "determine TheXhronology of these works and
to divide the pictures that were painted in the eighties from those which
belong to the nineties.
Foremost among them, however, both in point of merit and in
order of execution we may place the Madonna ofthe Magnificat or the
Coronation of the Virgin, as it is still called in the Uffizi Catalogue
* 129 s

Photograph— Houghton. \
THE VIRGIN OF THE MAGNIFICAT
(Uffizi)

SANDRO BOTTICELLI

(No. 1267, bis), the most famous and the most perfect of all Sandro's
Madonnas. In beauty of design, in glowing richness andjoyely trans
parency of colour, in exquisite finish and intensity of spiritual feeling,
this tondo surpasses all Botticelli's other Virgins. The circular form had
long been popular in Tuscan sculpture. Donatello, Luca della Robbia,
Desiderio da Settignano and Mino da Fiesole had all employed it in
turn for the carved Ma
donnas which adorned the
shrines and smiled down on
the passers-by, in the busy
thoroughfares and narrow
streets of Florence. Fra
Filippo, as we have seen,
had been the first to intro
duce the tondo in painting,
but Botticelli understood
better than any other master
how to adapt it to the uses
of pictorial art, and this
picture of the Magnificat is
an admirable example ofthe
skill with which he knew
how to develop an artistic
motive. John Addington
Symonds has suggested that
Sandro, who loved flowers,
amT introduces- fluttering
roses alike into his faery
dreams of Greek nymphs, and visions of Paradise, may have borrowed
the composition of this picture from "the corolla of an open rose,"1
and the way in which the curving lines of bowed heads, interlaced
arms and meeting hands converge, bears out this idea. The same
pattern is repeated in the flowing lines of the Virgin's veil and mantle,
in the gauzy draperies that float about the crown suspended on high,
and the windings of the stream that runs through the distant valley!
1 J. A. Symonds, "Renaissance in Italy, The Fine Arts," p. I85.
I30

I 'holograph — Hough ton.}
ANGELS FROM THE MAGNIFICAT
(Uffizi)

THE MAGNIFICAT
The Carmelite friar, again, had introduced curly-headed boy-angels into
his groups of the Madonna and Child, and Sandro, improving on his
master's conception, surrounds his Virgin with a troop of lovely
children with curling locks and wistful faces. But the leading motive
ofthe picture is altogether original.
The Virgin, robed in a green mantle embroidered with gold, and
wearing a transparent white veil over her fair tresses, is in the act of
dipping her pen into the ink, to write her song of praise on the leaves
of the missal which is held open by angel hands. Two other boy-angels
hold a golden crown above her head, and as the heavenly light streams
over her, the Child on her knee looks up in her face with a sudden flash
of inspiration. Then the full significance of the great sacrifice dawns
upon the Mother's soul, and at the very moment when she realizes all
her glory, when angels crown her brows and the Child guides her pen
to write the words that pronounce her blessed among women, the sword
pierces her heart with its mysterious foretaste of coming agony.
M. Miintz, who made a careful study of the points of connection
between Botticelli and Leonardo, believes that the head of the Virgin
in the Magnificat was borrowed from a sketch by Leonardo, which is
now at Windsor, but although the attitude is similar, the resemblance
of the features is but very slight, ajid-±he.spiritual intensity ofexpression
in the bowed face of Sandro's Madonna is far beyond anything in
v-Leonardo's work. The mystic poetry of Botticelli's soul has borne him
to heights, as yet undreamt of in his great rival's philosophy, and in
thTs JwgfldgJdEijJ^litil§,.Pain.ting he^has attained an ideal_of jdivine sorrow
and tenderness which remains unsurpassed in the annals of Christian art.
Signor Supino and the other critics who accept M. Mlintz's
suggestion, ascribe the Magnificat to the period immediately preceding
Botticelli's visit to Rome, when Leonardo was still in Florence. But
the mastery of design and rare degree of technical perfection in the
painting incline us to place it a few years later, soon after the completion
of the frescoes in the Sixtine Chapel, about the same time as the Birth
of Venus and the Mars and Venus, and just before the altar-piece which
he painted for the Bardi family in 1485.
This Madonna, enthroned between St. John the Baptist and St.
John the Evangelist, which originally adorned the Bardi Chapel in
r3i

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
Brunellesco's newly-restored church of San Spirito, is the only one of
Sandro's altar-pieces to which a date can be assigned with certainty.
In a book of accounts, recently discovered by Signor Supino among
the Archives of the Guicciardini family,1 there is an entry relating to
this altar-piece. A record is made of a payment of twenty-four florins
made by Giovanni dei Bardi, to Giuliano di Sangallo, on the 7th of
February, 1484-1485, for carving a frame which was supplied by him to a
panel painted by "Sandro del Botticello." " In S. Spirito of Florence,"
writes Vasari, "Sandro painted an altar-piece for the Chapel of the
Bardi, on which he bestowed great pains and worked with remarkable
success, and which contains some olive and palm trees executed with
the utmost love." Giuliano, we know, was one of Lorenzo dei Medici's
favourite architects and engineers, who had just finished building his
new villa of Poggio a Cajano, and whom the Magnifico soon afterwards
sent to Naples, as the best master whom he could find to design King
Ferrante's new palace. He began life as a wood-carver, and always
retained the name of legnaiuolo, which appears in this document. That
he was a great admirer of Sandro's art we know from his own drawings,
in which he imitates the figures in the frescoes of the Villa Lemmi, and
his name may still be seen on the back of the Botticellian tondo of the
Madonna in the National Gallery, which was once his property.
A second entry in Giovanni dei Bardi's account-book tells us that
on the 3rd of August, 1485, Sandro himself received "the sum of
seventy-five gold florins, thirty-eight for the wood of the panel and the
gold which he had employed, two florins more for the azure which he
had used, and thirty-five for the work of his brush."
The fine composition and admirable execution of this altar-piece,
which is now one ofthe greatest ornaments of the Berlin Gallery; its
rich colouring and high finish, agree with all that we know of Botti
celli's work at this period, and justify us in placing the Madonna of the
Magnificat about the same time. Few of his paintings are so well' pre
served and retain so much of their original splendour. The Virgin is
seated on a richly- carved throne, raised on a pedestal of coloured
marbles, under a bower of luxuriant verdure; in which the foliage, palm,
cypress and myrtle are all mingled. The Baptist, a noble and ascetic
1 "Sandro Botticelli," I. B. Supino, p. 94.
132

THE BERLIN MADONNA
figure, holding a cross in one hand and pointing with the other to a
scroll bearing the words Ecce Agnus Dei, stands on the left of the
throne; the Evangelist, a venerable and white-bearded old man, holds a
pen and an open book in his hands, as if in the act of writing the
Gospel, which tells how the Word was made God and dwelt among- us.
The Virgin's face closely resembles that of the goddess in the Birth of
Venus, and wears the same gentle and pensive expression ; while the
laughing Child, stretching
out both little arms to his
mother, is one of the few
joyous and happy types of
childhood which Sandro
has given us. All the de
tails of the background —
the thickly-woven boughs
of palm and cypress and
myrtle, which form a
canopy above the Virgin
and her attendant Saints,
the tall white lilies and
sprays of olive in enamelled
jars, and the bowls of red
and white roses set on the
marble parapet — are
painted with exquisite care.
This combination of na
tural beauty and artistic
ornament produces the finest decorative effect and, as in the BiHh of
Venus and the Magnificat, the lavish use of gold in the foliage and
draperies heightens the splendour of the whole.
Closely related to this Berlin Madonna is the large and important
altar-piece of the Virgin and Saints in the Accademia of Florence,
which Sandro painted probably a year or two later for the convent
church of S. Barnaba. Here the Madonna is seated on a lofty throne,
flanked by stately marble pillars and other architectural details of classical
type. The broad and simple folds of drapery, and the white veil rest-
*33

Photograph — Hanfstaengl. ]
THE MADONNA, WITH ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
AND ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST
(Berlin Museum)

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
ing lightly on her hair, recall the Berlin picture. The Virgin's features
also resemble those of the last-named Madonna, but the eyes, instead
of-l-oek-iflg-do^wn, as in most of the earlrer-pietures, joe^t-ou^s-m-grave-.
and^soixQwiuLapgeal. Two winged angels, standing at her side, draw
back the crimson velvet hangings of the canopy overhead, while two
others gaze sadly at the instruments of the Passion— the nails and
crown of thorns which they hold up in their hands. The Child, of a
type evidently derived from the little boy who is seen walking by his
mother's side in the Sixtine fresco of the Journey of Moses, stands on
his mother's knees, lifting his hand in blessing, and his countenance
seems to have caught the sadness which haunts the angel-faces, as he
muses sorrowfully over these tokens of his coming Passion. On the wide
marble pavement at the foot of the throne are six Saints, in whom the
painter brings before us six distinct types of struggling and sanctified
humanity. On the one hand we see the heavenly warrior Michael,
winged and clad in shining armour, his youthful grace and beauty
forming a marked contrast to the aged scholar, St. Augustine, and the
haggard prophet of the desert, St. John the Baptist, who stand beside
him. On the other, we have St. Barnabas, the strong-featured man
of action with a keen, vigorous face and long black beard ; a mild-look
ing St. Ambrose, in mitre and ecclesiastical robes; and the virgin-
martyr, St. Katharine, clad in a blue robe and bearing the palm of
victory in her hand. Both in type and attitude, this gentle saint with
the dreamy eyes and contemplative expression on her fair face, strongly
resembles the reclining nymph in the panel of Mars and Venus, and
belongs to the same family as the young woman carrying faggots in
the Sixtine fresco, and the Graces in Giovanna degli Albizzi's wedding
picture. This altar-piece has suffered from restoration, and the hand of
assistants is plainly visible in some portions. The tones of colour are
gay and vivid, but less harmonious than in most of Sandro's works,
and the figure of the Baptist is awkward and ungainly, and will not
bear comparison with the noble drawing of the same saint by the
master's pen in the Uffizi. A line from the thirty-third canto of
Dante's "Paradiso" is inscribed on the highest step of the Ma
donna's throne :
Vergine, madre, figlia del tuo figlio,
134

illlWilBjniMMaMg mmtmsmimsm. ¦ "WBrnmarnmniai.

/

Houghton

THF. MADONNA OF S. BARN ABA.
Accademia, Florence.

A PREDELLA

as if this and the following line,
Umile ed alta piu die crcatura,
contained the thought to which the painter owed his inspiration, and
which he wished to leave upon the mind of the spectator.
The predella to this altar-piece is also in the Accademia and consists
of four small paintings. One of these is a Christ rising from the Tomb,
with the instruments of the
Passion above, and a group
of Christ bearing the Cross,
followed by holy women on
the way to Calvary, in the
background. These subjects
are evidently introduced as
a sign of the fulfilment of
the prophetic symbols of
the Passion, which are seen
in the central panel. The
other three relate to the
Saints who appear in the
altar-piece. St. Ambrose is
seen clad in his pontifical
robes, lying in state on his
funereal couch, with two
figures, one of whom is clad
in Oriental dress, standing
in the background. In the
second, Salome, wearing a
green robe, advances, bear
ing a charger with the Baptist's head, while the prison gates and the
rampants of the fortress of Macherus are seen on the left. In the third,
we have the old legend of the Vision of St. Augustine. The Saint of
Hippo stands on the seashore, meditating on the mystery ofthe Holy
Trinity, and fixes his eyes attentively on a child before him, who,
kneeling on the beach, is trying to fill a hole with sea-water. According
to the legend, Augustine one day asked a child, whom he saw engaged
in this manner, what he was doing. The boy replied that he was trying
135

Photograph — Ho ugh ton.]
SANTA CATARINA FROM THE MADONNA
DI S. BARNABA
(Accademia, Florence)

SANDRO BOTTICELLI

to pour the sea into the hole which he had dug. " But that is im
possible! " returned the Saint. " It is less impossible," was the child's
answer, "than to solve the mystery which is troubling your thoughts."
The personality of this great saint and doctor of the Western
Church seems to have had an especial attraction for Botticelli, who
introduces Augustine repeatedly into his altar-pieces. Besides the
fresco in Ognissanti, he
painted another figure of
the saint in his cell, seated
under an arched recess, with
a hanging in front, engaged
in writing, while the floor is
strewn with fragments of
paper. Here the type of the
face recalls the Augustine
of the S. Barnaba picture
and the Coronation of the
Virgin in San Marco, while
the ornamental details of
the architecture are in the
style of the master's later
works. The wall is adorned
with classical medallions
touched with gold, similar
to the basreliefs in the Al
legory of Calumny. This
carefully painted little pic
ture, now in the Uffizi (No.
1 179), was first discovered
by Morelli, who recognized in it one of those "most beautiful paint
ings of small subjects" by Sandro, which are mentioned by Antonio
Billi and the Anonimo Gaddiano. Both of these writers also allude
to another "work of rare beauty," by our master's hand, a little
St. Jerome, which some critics identify with a small picture that is
still the property of the Marchese Farmola in Florence. The aged
saint is represented in the act of receiving his last communion from
136

Photograph — Houghton.]
MADONNA OF THE POMEGRANATE
(Uffizi)

Anderson.

SAINT AUGUST! KE.
Uffizi, Florence.

MADONNA OF THE POMEGRANATE
a priest, under a rude thatched hut. A fine drawing of this saint clad
in his cardinal's robes, and holding a pen in his right hand and a book
open before him, is also in the Uffizi.
Both the Mother and Child of the S. Barnaba altar-piece meet us
again in Sandro's Madonna of the Pomegranate, that beautiful tondo
which hangs opposite the Magnificat in the Uffizi. This picture formed
part of the Grand Ducal
collection, and still retains
its original frame, adorned
with golden lilies on a blue
ground. It may, therefore,
have belonged to the Me
dici, but is generally sup
posed to be the tondo oi the
Madonna with angels in the
Franciscan Church, outside
the gate of San Miniato,
which Vasari describes as a
most beautiful work. "//
quale fui tenuto cosa bell-
issima." ' This description,
however, may equally well
refer to the Virgin of the
Magnificat, regarding
whose origin we have as
yet no certain knowledge.
In form and general treat
ment, in the transparent
veil which rests on the Ma
donna's golden tresses, in the lovely faces and curly locks of the six
child-angels, who press round her with their open choir-books and
blossoming lilies, this picture resembles the Magnificat. But there are
several variations in the composition. The eyes of both Mother and
Child are fixed upon us. Mary holds the pomegranate which gives its
name to the picture; the Child lays one hand upon the fruit and lifts
1 " Vite," ed. Milanesi, vol. iv, p. 318.
137 T

Photograph— Houghton.]
HEAD OF THE MADONNA OF THE
POMEGRANATE (Uffizi)

SANDRO BOTTICELLI

the other in blessing; while the golden rays which shed their radiance
on the group, bear witness to his divine birth. The Madonna's lace,
in its sad and meditative expression, comes nearer to the Virgin of
S. Barnaba, but the no~te~of mournful yearning-is-still nigig^romjnent,
and the angel-faces reflect the tender sadness in the countenance of
both Mother and Child. The composition is as masterly in its way as
that of the earlier tondo, _hul.Jth«-colou^uigi-is4n.a jo wer key and every-
thing points to a later date of execution. If this picture was painted at
the close of the eighties, the
tondo which is now in the
Ambrosiana at Milan, cer
tainly belongs to the nine
ties. Here we have a new
motive in the kneeling Vir
gin, who looks down in love
and adoration on the Child
held up before her by a
child-angel, and beyond the
marble parapet, a charming
glimpse of river and wood
land appears through the
parted hangings of the
canopy. The winged seraphs
with streaming locks and
fluttering draperies, hasten
ing to draw back the cur
tains, are a distinct reminiscence of the S. Barnaba altarpiece. But the
ansrel-faces and forms are less delicate, and there is an air of haste and
agitation in their rapid movements that already betrays the tendency to
violent gesture and hurried action which marked the work of Sandro's
declining years.
The Madonna in the Poldi-Pezzoli Gallery at Milan has more
affinity with the Virgin of the Magnificat in feature and attitude, as
well as in the careful finish of the execution, marred as it has been in
places by the restorer's hand. Here Mary looks down with exquisite
tenderness on the unconscious Child, who plays with the nails and
J i3«

Photograph — A nderson.]
MADONNA AND CHILD WITH ANGELS
(Ambrosiana, Milan).

POLDI-PEZZOLI MADONNA

crown of thorns as he looks up in his mother's face, while she turns a
page of the open missal. The expanse of clear sky and park-like land
scape that is seen through the open casement behind her, recalls the
Chigi Madonna, but is also seen in an Annunciation which was exe
cuted in his bottega about 1490. A variation of the Poldi-Pezzoli
Madonna appears in another little picture now belonging to the well-
known connoisseur, Mr. J. P.
Heseltine. Here both the atti
tude and face of the Virgin are
nearly the same, and are cer
tainly the master's work; but
the little St. John the Baptist
who kneels before the Child,
with a staff in his hand and a
halo round his brow, was prob
ably added by an assistant.
Both the wide and rocky land
scape and the marble bas-relief
which adorns the parapet, are
in Botticelli's later manner.
The work evidently belongs to
the period when he painted St.
Augustine in his Cell and the
Allegory of Calumny, and when
a large proportion of his work
was left to the hand of assist
ants. This was certainly the
case with the Annunciation
which is now in the Uffizi
(No. 1316). As Vasari informs us,1 this picture was painted for the
Cistercians of Castello, whose chapter-house still contains Perugino's
beautiful fresco of the Crucifixion. They were a prosperous and flourish
ing community towards the close of the fifteenth century, and in 1488
a Florentine citizen, Benedetto di Ser Giovanni Guard., founded a
chapel in their convent-church, which was dedicated to the Annunc.a-
1 "Vite,"ed. Milanesi, vol. iii, p- 3H-
139

Photograph— Anderson.]
MADONNA AND CHILD
(Poldi-Pezzoli Gallery, Milan)

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
tion. He afterwards employed Botticelli to paint an altar-piece for this
chapel, probably about the time of its consecration by Bishop Pagag-
notti, on the 26th of June, 1436, and paid him thirty florins for the
work. After being lost for many years, the picture was discovered
thirty-two years ago in a wayside shrine, which formerly belonged to
the nuns of Santa Maria Maddalene dei Pazzi, the community who,
during many years, occupied the ancient house of the Cistercian monks.
It is not, however, considered genuine by either Morelli or Mr. Beren
son, and was, at all events, partly the work of an assistant.
The conception of this birdlike angel, with the outstretched wings
and flying draperies, newly alighted on the floor of the home of
Nazareth, and the lowly, deprecating air of the Virgin may well have
been due to Sandro. But the drawing is weak, the colouring is dull
and gray, while the different parts of the composition, it is evident,
have been borrowed from the master's other works. Both in type and
gesture, the Madonna is a feeble copy of Our Lady in the large altar-
piece of the Coronation, while the angel strongly resembles the little
Baptist in Mr. Heseltine's picture, and the winding river in the distance
recalls the landscape of the Magnificat.
There can, fortunately, be no doubt as to the genuineness of the
great altar-piece which Sandro painted about the same time— the Corona
tion of the Virgin now in the Accademia (No. 73). This noble work,
as we learn from Vasari, was ordered by the Arte di Porta San Maria,
that is to say, the Guild of Silk Weavers and Goldsmiths, for the
altar ofthe Company, in Savonarola's own convent-church of San Marco,
and, in the biographer's words, was exceedingly well executed by the
painter. The upper portion of the altar-piece is painted on a gold
ground, as is the case with Fra Angelico's works, whom in some
respects it resembles. In the lowly Virgin, bending, with hands humbly
crossed on her heart, to receive the crown, and the venerable hVure of
God the Father, Sandro follows the traditional type. The bearded old
man, wearing the triple tiara, belongs to the same family as the Popes
and high priests in the Sixtine frescoes, the St. Augustine and St. Am
brose ofthe earlier altar-pieces; but the thrones of flame in the empy
rean, and the troop of angels dancing hand in hand, in a tumult of
exultant rapture, are purely of his own invention. Here all is. stir and
140

Houghton.

CORONATION OF THK VIRGIN.
Accademia, Florence.

CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN
movement, flying draperies and loose locks flutter on the breeze, hurry
ing feet fly past us on the clouds, showers of roses are wafted through
the air, and one blue-robed seraph borne heavenwards by the irresistible
might of love, darts up to Mary's side and seems to claim a share in
her joy and triumph. In the green meadow below, four saints contem
plate the vision that has dawned on their wondering sight with varying
degrees of emotion. St. Jerome, in his cardinal's hat and robes, gazes
on the opened heavens with straining eyes; and St. John, the beloved
disciple, lifts his arm heavenwards in a fiery transport of love and
yearning; while St. Augustine writes calmly in his book, and St.
Eligius, the patron of the goldsmiths, lifts his hand in blessing as he
muses on the great miracle that he has witnessed. The cupola of the
Duomo rises in the distance, and a mass of shelving rocks, such as we
see in the master's Pallas and the Centaur and the Adoration of the
Magi, is seen on the right. The predella of this altar-piece consists of
five small subjects bearing the usual relation to the chief personages in
the picture. The Annitnciation, that subject which Dante saw carved
on the marble walls of Purgatory, with the angel who opens the gate
of heaven to mortals :
L'Angel che venne in terra col decreto
Delia molt' anni lagrimata pace
Ch' aperse il ciel dal suo lungo divic to,1
is represented in the central panel, where a Virgin in a blue mantle
receives the angelic salutation with hands meekly folded on her bosom.
St. Augustine appears again as the type of the saintly student writing
in his cell, St. Jerome, the penitent, is seen striking his breast as he
kneels before the Crucifix in his cave. St. John walks by the sea-shore
on the rocky isle of Patmos, rapt in his vision of the celestial Country;
and St. Eligius, in work at his forge, is shoeing a horse which is led
by the devil in the form of a richly-clad young woman wearing a green
robe, while the horns peep out from under her flowing locks.
The date of this Coronation has been the subject of much con
troversy. Mr. Berenson believes it to have been painted as early as
1480, because of certain peculiarities which appear in the works of that
period. Dr. Julius Meyer, on the contrary, places its execution as late
1 " Purgatorio," x, 34.
I4I

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
as 1447, and Signor Supino thinks that the dancing angels may have
been suggested by the white-robed children who danced round the
Bonfire of Vanities on the Piazza at the Carnival of 1496. The vehe
ment action of the aged Evangelist, and the rapid flight of the circling
seraphs seem to indicate that this Coronation belongs to Botticelli's
later period, when the serene
beauty and repose of his
earlier conceptions had
given way to a more pas
sionate and emotional mood.
But within the last year new
and unexpected light has
been thrown on the sub
ject. In the "Miscellanea
d'Arte" for the year 1903,
M. Jacques Mesnil pub
lished a passage which he
had discovered" in the con
vent records, describing the
Chapel of the Arte di Porta
San Maria, on the left side
of the door of the church of
S. Marco. "This chapel,"
writes the chronicler, "was
known as the Chapel of St.
A16 (Eligius) the patron of
the goldsmiths, who be
longed to the Guild of Silk
Weavers, and gave a silver
chalice with their arms and those of the Arte upon them to the said
chapel." From very ancient days, the writer tells us, this Arte was the
protector of the convent, and, on the Feast of San Marco, its mem
bers came to this church bearing torches, and a banner with their
device was hung over the altar, and ' ' if bad weather kept them away,
they paid forty florins for the wax consumed. And the said Arte,"
he adds, "had an altar-piece painted for the sum of 100 gold florins,
142

Photograph — Houghton?,
DANCING ANGELS FROM THE CORONATION
OF THE VIRGIN
(Accademia, Florence)

Houghton.

SANTA CATKRIXA.
Accademia, Florence.

Houghton.

MADONNA OF THK POMEGRANATE.
CJ/i-i.

CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN
together with the grating and frame, and keep it up at their expense."
This passage, which confirms Vasari's statement, led M. Mesnil to
make further researches in the books of the Guild of Silk Weavers,
and he discovered the records kept in the last decades of the fifteenth
century, by the Notary of the Arte, Ser Niccolo da Romena, in which
a careful record is kept of the donations that were made and the ex
penses incurred by the company. Unfortunately the account-books
for the eleven months between October, 1487, and September the 16th,
1488, is missing, and no mention of Sandro's altar-piece could be
found in any of the other volumes. ' From this we may fairly infer that
the altar-piece which Botticelli painted by order of the Goldsmiths for
their Patron Saint's chapel, was executed during that interval. The
style and technique of the Coronation render this supposition highly
probable, and the fact that Savonarola began his first series of sermons
in the church of San Marco, in the Lent of 1489, lends especial interest
to M. Mesnil's suggestion. If the Coronation was not executed under
Fra Girolamo's direction, it was apparently finished about the time that
his preaching began to attract general attention in Florence, and may
have been the means of bringing Sandro into connection with the great
Dominican friar whose teaching was to have so powerful an influence
upon his art and life.
1 Jacques Mesnil, " Miscellanea d'Arte," 1903, pp. 87-98.

H3

CHAPTER XIV
1489 — 1498
The preaching and revival of Fra Girolamo Savonarola. — Lorenzo dei Medici recalls him to
Florence. — His influence upon scholars and artists. — Botticelli becomes his follower.—
Effect of the Friar's teaching upon his art. — The unfinished Adoration in the Uffizi. — The
Munich Pieta. — Madonnas by Botticelli's followers. — Jacopo del Sellajo. — Amico di Sandro.
Bartolommeo di Giovanni.
IN 1 48 1, the Dominican friar, Fra Girolamo Savonarola, the grand
son of a certain Michele Savonarola, who attained high reputation
as court physician to the princes of the house of Este at Ferrara, first
came to Florence and entered the convent of San Marco. During the
next few years he was engaged in lecturing to the novices, and his
eloquence and devotion attracted considerable attention among the
noble families connected with this convent, which stood near the Medici
palace, and had been rebuilt and endowed by Cosimo dei Medici.
Botticelli's constant patrons, the Vespucci, were strong supporters of
this Dominican community. A portrait of the Archbishop of Florence,
St. Antonine, the saintly Prior of the convent and friend of Fra Angelico,
was introduced in Ghirlandajo's fresco of the Vespucci in Ognissanti,
and Giorgio Vespucci, who employed Sandro to paint the fresco of
St. Augustine in that church, himself, as we have seen, joined the
Dominican Order, and became a friar of San Marco. But a course of
Lent sermons, which Fra Girolamo preached in the church of San
Lorenzo, failed to meet with popular success, and his superiors sent him
to preach at San Gimignano and in the cities of Lombardy. Here he met
the brilliant scholar, Pico della Mirandola, who was so deeply impressed
by the Dominican friar's preaching that he begged Lorenzo dei Medici
to recall Fra Girolamo to Florence. "Lorenzo," writes a contemporary,
"willing to gratify the Count, for whom he had a singular affection,
sent for his secretary, Ser Piero da Bibbiena, and bade him write his
commands to the Lombard Prior of the Order of St. Dominic. Then
144

SAVONAROLA
he turned to the Count, saying: "Since you know that I am always
ready to serve you with goodwill and good wit, your Excellency shall
compose the letter after your own fashion, and my secretary shall write
it out, and seal it with my seal. This was done. And it befell Lorenzo
as it befell Pharaoh, whose daughter rescued the infant Moses and
whose father was doomed to be damned by the act of the child whom
she had brought up."1 This statement is confirmed by the following
entry in Lorenzo's register of correspondence, 1489, April, 29th day.
To the General of the Preaching friars for the recall of Fra Hieronimo
da Ferrara." *
Accordingly, Fra Girolamo returned to Florence at the Magnifico's
bidding, and began his first lectures on the Revelation of St. John,
sitting under a damask-rose tree in the convent garden of San Marco.
Here the number of his hearers increased so rapidly that on the ist
of August he ascended the pulpit in the convent church, which was
thronged with attentive listeners, eager to hear this new preacher who
was the friend of Pico. Soon his sermons became so famous that the
church of San Marco could no longer contain the crowds who flocked
to hear him, and in Lent, 149 1, he preached that wonderful course of
sermons in the Duomo which stirred Florence to its depths. The fiery
eloquence of the preacher, the boldness with which he denounced the
corruption of the clergy, the sins of men in high places both of Church
and State, had a strange fascination. The most distinguished scholars
and artists of Lorenzo's immediate circle, his intimate friends and
companions, were Fra Girolamo's most constant hearers and greatest
admirers. Marsilio Ficino openly expressed his admiration for the
Frate's teaching; Angelo Poliziano was converted by his words, and
when he died in 1494, begged to be buried in the Dominican garb. Pico
della Mirandola — Lorenzo's beloved Pico, whom he sent for on his
deathbed that he might die happy — breathed his last in Savonarola's
arms. The Latin poet and humanist, Ugolino Verino, addressed a
Latin letter to the Frate, expressing his agreement with his views of
true poetry, and Girolamo Benivieni gave up writing carnival songs to
compose hymns and lauds for the children of San Marco. Lorenzo
1 " Magliabecchiana," Codex 1, vol. viii, p. 43.
2 ''Archivio Medicio," Codex 63, quoted by ProL Villari, " Life of Savonarola," p. 88.
H5 U

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
himself, although he might smile at the Friar's prophecies and look
with some misgivings at his methods, was strongly attracted by his
personality. He made friendly advances towards him on several occa
sions, and when he was dying, sent for the Prior of San Marco and
asked for his last blessing, saying that he was the only honest friar
whom he knew.
If the frequent allusions to Plato and other classical writers, that
we find in Savonarola's sermons, show how many scholars and poets
were among his audience, the bold rebukes which he addressed to
painters and sculptors, prove that artists of all ranks and ages flocked
to hear him. Far from being an enemy to the fine arts, Savonarola,
as Rio long ago maintained, and as Professor Villari and other modern
writers have clearly proved, admired and encouraged painting and
commended the practice of art earnestly to the novices of San Marco.
But he was never tired of dwelling on the divine origin of beauty and
its relation to moral goodness. "Take two women of equal beauty,"
he says in one of his Lent sermons on the Prophets, " let one be good,
modest and pure, the other a bad character, and you will see the good
. woman shine with angelic loveliness, and will notice that she will be
the most beloved of all men, and that even the eyes ot carnally-minded
men will be drawn to her." And he was constantly blaming painters
for representing persons, notorious for their bad lives, as Virgins and
saints. "We find young men," he says, "going about saying of this
one and the other, there is a Magdalen or a Virgin, that is a St. John!
and then you paint their faces in the churches, which is a profane and
wicked practice. You painters do very wrong, and if you knew as I do
the scandal that you cause, you would certainly act differently. Do you
think that the Virgin should be painted as you paint her? I tell you she
was clothed as a humble maid." l Many of the foremost artists of the
day, Baccio della Porta, better known by his Dominican name of Fra
Bartolommeo, Lorenzo di Credi, and the sculptor, Baccio di Montelupo,
were his devoted followers. The great architect, Simone Pollaiuolo,
Antonio's nephew, surnamed " il Cronaca," Vasari tells us, was seized
with so great a frenzy for Savonarola's teaching, that he could talk
of nothing else, and the young Michelangelo treasured the Frate's
1 " Prediche sopra Amos e Zaccaria," vol. xxviii, p. 6i supra, Ezekiel, 1896.
146

SIMONE FILIPEPI
memory and read his sermons to his dying day. And just as the
Frate's strong faith in the realities of the unseen kindled the interest of
the Platonists of Lorenzo's Academy, so the prophetic note in his
teaching appealed in an especial manner to the mystic side of Botticelli's
nature, while he could not fail to be touched by the sincerity of the
man and his deep human sympathy. Whether his altar-piece of the
Coronation first brought him into connection with Savonarola, or
whether he was acquainted with him during the Friar's early residence
in San Marco, it is certain that Sandro soon became an ardent Piaenone.
This we learn from a curious chronicle or record of these memorable
days, which was kept by the painter's own brother, Simone Filipepi.
The third son of the old tanner Mariano, Simone, who was only a
year older than Sandro, had, as we learn from his father's tax papers,
gone to Naples with Paolo Rucellai as a. boy. After being without
employment for some time, he entered the service of another rich
Florentine, with whom he remained in Naples, until the close of the
year 1493. About that time he returned to Florence, and after the
death of his father, lived in the old home of the Via Nuova with Sandro.
A man of considerable culture, Simone shared his brother's love of
Dante, and wrote a commentary on a canzone in the "Vita Nuova," " Tre
donne intorno al cor mi son venule," which he dedicated to Benedetto
Manetti, and which is preserved in the Biblioteca Nazionale, in a parch
ment manuscript bearing the date 1495, and the words: "This is by
Simone di Mariano Filipepi." " Idib bono fine faci di lui" (" God grant
him a blessed end".1) Another work of Simone is the chronicle men
tioned above, which is described by Lorenzo Violi, the young notary
who wrote down Savonarola's sermons as they were delivered, and who,
in his " Giornate," speaks of the book in which Simone recorded the
most noteworthy events of those times: "This his book, bound in
boards, was a little chronicle of the things which happened in these
days, and I have seen and read this book." If the actual book described
by Violi is no longer in existence, a Codex containing copious extracts
from Simone's "Cronaca" has been lately discovered in the Vatican
Library and published by the Friar's most distinguished biographer,
1 " Scelta di Prediche e Scritti di Fra Girolamo Savonarola con nuovi document; intorno
alia sua vita," P. Villari and " E. Casanova," p. ix.
147

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
Professor Villari, in his latest volume on Savonarola. As a document
for the history of Fra Girolamo, it is of great importance, while its
graphic descriptions and vivid touches were evidently supplied by men
who were eye-witnesses of the memorable scenes which they record.
But as Simone te-lls us himself that he was still in Naples in 1493, it is
clear that the earlier incidents in the great revival must have been
described by one of his companions, probably his brother Sandro.
The opening sentences breathe the passionate enthusiasm with
which these faithful Piagnoni cherished every word of their master and
believed that he was a prophet sent from God.
" Fra Girolamo Savonarola of Ferrara began to preach in Florence
in the year 1489, as a prophet, and as one sent from God, foretelling
the tribulation of Italy, and exhorting every one to repentance. In the
lifetime of Lorenzo, he prophesied that these peaceful days would not
last long, and that a conqueror should come over the mountains, like
Cyrus of old, and overrun Italy. All wise men mocked at him, and so
did Lorenzo, calling the Friar a simpleton. But everything that he
foretold was accomplished afterwards in the conquests of the French
king, and of the Duke Valentino, and many other things, such as the
death of Innocent and Lorenzo." x
The writer goes on to record some of these prophecies and notably
the sermon in which the Frate, one April evening in 1492, foretold the
coming woes, and threatened the city with terrible things. "Ecce
gladius Domini, super terram cito et velociter." That same night,
Simone writes in his journal, the cupola of the Duomo was struck with
lightning, and three days afterwards Lorenzo the Magnificent died at
Careggi. In subsequent passages he dwells with delight on the wonder
ful fervour and religious enthusiasm which stirred the whole city, on the
tens of thousands who flocked to the Duomo several hours before day
break and waited patiently for the preacher's coming, on the vast
multitude of men and women who lined the street which led from San
Marco to Santa Maria del Fiore, to see him pass. He tells us how
the children stood on steps at the back of the Duomo, "as many as
1 "Villari e Casanova," op. eit., p. 453. This and the following passages from Simone's
"Cronaca" are translated into English and quoted here, by the kind permission of Professor
Villari, and his publisher, Signor Sansoni of Florence.
148

INFLUENCE OF THE FRIAR
three thousand," for an hour or two before the sermon, and sang lauds
and psalms in devout chorus, and when the Padre mounted the pulpit,
they all began the "Ave Maria Stella," and "it was as it were a fore
taste of heaven."
Luca Landucci, the honest chemist who had his spezeria at the
Canto dei Tornaquinci, close to the Tornabuoni houses and Cronaca's
newly-built Strozzi palace, confirms Simone's impressions in almost the
same words. "There were a great number of children at the services
in the Duomo, on raised steps opposite the pulpit, and behind the
women, and they all sang sweet hymns before the sermon, so much so,
that the sweetness of their strains made every one weep, and most of all
the wisest and sanest among us, who said with one accord, ' This is
God's doing.' And this went on every morning of Lent, before the
Friar arrived. And the marvellous thing was that it was impossible to
keep children in bed these mornings, and they all hurried* to church
before their mothers." 1
The Friar, Simone tells us, was quiet and meek as a lamb in.
ordinary life, and full of kindness and charity, but in the pulpit he
seemed to -grow in stature and became another St. Paul, speaking
boldly without fear of kings or any worldly respect, in the manner of
the old prophets and apostles. With tender affection, Sandro's brother
recalls the happy summer evenings when they walked with the friars
and novices in the quiet gardens of San Marco, and the holy Prior
made them sit down with their Bibles in their hands, while he questioned
some novice on certain subjects or expounded some fine passage of
Holy Writ. Often as many as fifty or sixty laymen would be present
at these open-air meetings, and when it was too wet for the garden,
they sat in the strangers' hall, and "so great was the Friar's devotion
and simplicity that for an hour or two one seemed to be in Paradise, and
they were blessed indeed who could be present at these gatherings."
The different incidents in the great revival are all described, the
marvellous effect produced by the Friar's referring to the beautiful order
and blessed peace which reigned throughout the city, the procession of
white-robed children who walked through the streets at Carnival time,
sino-ino- "Viva Cristo e la Vergine Maria, nostra regina! " and rebuking
1 Landucci, " Diario," p. 126. = " Villari e Casanova," op. eit., p. 479.
149

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
gamblers and revellers with so much spirit and courage, that no one
could resist them. "And these children ofthe Frate," says good Luca
Landucci, " were held in such reverence, that people kept from vice and
dishonesty, and no one, whether young or old, would ever speak of
such things. God be praised that I, too, lived in that blessed time. . . .
And then in Santa Maria del Fiore, they collected the alms, from the
men on one side and the women on the other, with so much devotion
and such deep emotion, that the like was never known. Many hundreds
of gold florins were put into the plates, and some gave silver spoons,
and others their handkerchiefs and veils, without grudging, for every
one wished to offer something to Christ and his mother. I have written
these things which are true and which I saw with my own eyes, and I
felt this same sweetness, and some of my children were among these
blessed bands." 1
In those days of general enthusiasm more than three hundred
youths of the noblest houses in the city joined the Dominican order.
Six Strozzi brothers all took the vows at one time, and elder personages
caught the prevailing enthusiasm and entered the convent. One of them
¦ was Sandro's old patron, Canon Giorgio Vespucci, who became a friar
of San Marco in 1497, and was chiefly instrumental with Savonarola in
saving the Medici library from dispersion and securing this priceless
collection of manuscripts and books for the use of the convent and city.2
In all of these stirring scenes Sandro took his part. " He became
a partisan of the sect of Fra Girolamo," says Vasari in his con
temptuous way, "and for this cause abandoned painting. And since
he had not money enough to live upon, his affairs soon fell into the
greatest disorder. Being obstinately attached to this party he became
what was known as a Piagnone ('sniveller') and gave up painting.
Thus he was reduced to such poverty in his old age that he would have
died of hunger, if it had not been for the alms of Lorenzo dei Medici,
and other friends and men of substance, who admired his genius."
There is, as usual, a germ of truth in Vasari's language. Sandro
did not give up his art, and he was never reduced to the point of
starvation. Neither did he follow the example of some of his brother-
1 Landucci, pp. 124, 125.
2 Brockhaus, H. " Forschungen iiber Florentinischer Kunstwerke,'' p. 96.
150

INFLUENCE OF THE FRIAR
artists, and throw his pagan work and studies from the nude on the
Bonfire of Vanities. But instead of painting Greek myths and pagan
goddesses, he devoted himself almost exclusively to religious subjects.
Having, as Vasari scornfully remarks, caught the prevailing frenzy, he
threw himself into the Frate's cause with all the energy of his nature.
He illustrated Savonarola's sermons, painted banners for his processions,
and, according to Vasari, designed a large engraving, entitled the
Triumph of Fra Girolamo. These manifold occupations may have led
him to neglect painting in a measure; but the fact that one of his finest
works bears the date of 1500, shows that, even in these late years, his
brain had not lost its power, nor his hand its cunning.
There are other pictures which belong to the last decade of the
century, and which bear the stamp of Sandro's invention and the marks
of Savonarola's influence, if they were only partly his work. Foremost
among these is the unfinished picture which came to the Uffizi from the
Palazzo Vecchio early in the last century, and was brought out of the
magazines of the Gallery in 1881. This is probably the Adoration of
the Magi " by Sandro's hand," which the Anonimo Gaddiano describes
as being " on the staircase which leads to the door of the Catena in the
Palace of the Signoria." Botticelli's invention is clearly seen in the
composition, which bears a strong resemblance to Leonardo's unfinished
Adoration. Unfortunately the whole ofthe panel has been coarsely re
painted in oils by some inferior artist of the sixteenth century, and it is
difficult to say how far Sandro had proceeded with the work. The scene
is laid in a wide mountainous landscape, and the Holy Family are
seated in a rocky cave, under precipitous cliffs, which recall the back
ground of Pallas and the Centaitr. In the foreground are eight kneeling
figures, who may be intended to represent the chief magistrates of
Florence — the Otto oi the Signoria— since, unlike the Three Kings,
they bring no offerings in their hands, and bear no badge which shows
their royal origin. Through the clefts in the rocks a vast concourse of
people of all ranks and classes are seen streaming in to take part in the
same great act of worship. Young and old, men and women, are moved
by the same feverish excitement, the same passionate and tumultuous
emotion. Some clasp both hands together in earnest supplication, others
point with outstretched arms to the Child-Christ on his mother's knee.
IS*

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
One leader on horseback lifts his right arm with a commanding gesture,
summoning his men to advance; another shades his eyes with his hand
from the blaze of light which the bright rays of the star from the East
sheds over the Holy Child.
Many portraits of contemporary personages have been recognized
among the foremost figures. On the right is Girolamo Benivieni, who
became so zealous a Piagnone, and lies buried by the side of his friends,
Pico and Poliziano, in San Marco. Behind him stands a tall figure in
a flowing robe and long white beard, resting his chin meditatively on
his hand, who bears a marked likeness to Leonardo. According to
Vasari,1 the great master was one of the architects summoned by
Savonarola early in 1495 to draw up plans for the new hall of the Great
Council in the Palazzo, and if he was in Florence, at the time, Sandro
may well have introduced his old friend's portrait into his picture. On
the left, behind St. Joseph, a Dominican friar in long white mantle,
probably intended for Savonarola himself, points with ardent devotion
to the new-born King, and, turning to a gray-haired figure, in whom
some writers recognize Lorenzo dei Medici at his side, adjures him to
own the supremacy of Christ. This Adoration, which differs in so
many respects from Sandro's earlier versions of the subject, was
evidently intended to commemorate the crowning triumph of the Frate's
revival, when, in 1494, after the expulsion of Piero dei Medici and the
departure of the French monarch and his army, a popular form of
government was drawn up, and Christ was proclaimed King in Florence.
After the execution of Savonarola and his companions, Sandro naturally
abandoned his picture, whch remained unfinished until the next century,
when it was completed by another hand. Such at least is the interpreta
tion of this curious and interesting picture, which was originally sug
gested by Signor Milanesi and Mr. Heath Wilson, and has been
accepted by Dr. Ulmann, Signor Venturi, M. Eugene Miintz, Signor
Supino, and other well-known writers. Mr. Home, however, and some
of the latest school of critics, are sceptical on this point, and detect
reminiscences of the Pollaiuoli in the work, which, in their opinion,
show that it belongs to a much earlier period, and was probably begun
about 1480. The present condition of the picture makes it impossible
1 " Vite," ed. Milanesi, vol. iv, p. 41.
152

INFLUENCE OF THE FRIAR
to speak with any certainty on the subject; but the vehement agitation,
exag^ted^estuxej„_qLthe actors, asjveTTas.the strong emotional-
Jeglingiajdiidi^ifiDadss.. the composition, seem to us to be far more in
themanner of Botticelli s later period.
r Another picture which bears the same traces of violent movement
and tumultuous emotion is the Pieta ofthe Munich Gallery (No. ioio).
This was probably the altar-piece seen by Vasari in the church of Santal
Maria Maggiore in Florence, and has been recognized as genuine by
Morelli and the leading German critics. There can be no doubt that
Sandro designed this striking group with the anguish-stricken Mother
falling back into the arms of St. John, while the prostrate Magdalen and
the wailing Maries bend in agonizing grief over the dead Christ. The
whole conception is, as it were, a living embodiment of Savonarola's
most eloquent and pathetic Holy Week sermons, when the preacher's
own voice was choked with sobs; and Lorenzo Violi, who wrote down
the Friar's discourses as they were delivered, broke off in the middle of
a sentence and adds, " Here I could write no more, for I was over
come with tears." It was a time of highly-strung feelings and great
religious exaltation, and these emotions are plainly reflected in this
Pieta, which probably issued from Sandro's bottega in 1494 or 1495.
But in the awkward drawing of several of the figures and the modelling
of the corpse, as well as in the style of the colouring, we see traces of
an inferior hand, which, in Mr. Berenson's opinion, is that of Raffaellino
del Garbo, one of the master's ablest and most successful assistants.
The influence of Savonarola's teaching is apparent in many other
works of this period, more especially in the to?idi of the Virgin and
Child, surrounded with boy-angels or accompanied by the little St. John,
which he and his followers repeated in so many different forms. These
sorrowful Madonnas, burdened with a mysterious sense of coming woe,
these fair children, whose faces reflect the mournful foreboding of
Mary's countenance, must have been inspired by the eloquent language
in which the Frate describes the Mother of many sorrows. The wonder
ful success which the Madonnas of Sandro's bottega obtained, the
amazing demand which sprang up on all sides for these tondi, was no
doubt partly due to the new religious fervour which animated all classes
in Florence during the brief period of Savonarola's revival. Every
153 x

SANDRO BOTTICELLI

devout Piagnone, each pious soul who strove to follow the Frate's rule
of holy living, saw in the tender melancholy of Sandro's Madonnas the
fulfilment of a cherished ideal. If the master himself was too much
absorbed in mystical dreams and too deeply interested in watching the
development of public events to paint with his old industry, the scholars
and assistants of his bottega made good use of their opportunity.
Countless were the replicas,
endless the imitations of
original works by the
master, which issued from
Sandro's workshop in these
days and bore his name
throughout the years to
come. " Sandro drew exceed
ingly well," writes Vasari,
" so much so that all artists
were anxious to obtain his
drawings." These draw
ings supplied his followers
with motives for a hundred
different paintings. So
great was the demand for
his Madonnas that his
pupils often had recourse to
old designs which he had
made in the early years when
he worked with Fra Filippo
or the Pollaiuoli, and turned them to good account. One artist we
know utilized a similar cartoon for the graceful Madonna and Child
with the little Baptist in the Louvre; another reproduced the Chigi
Madonna in a painting now at Chantilly, leaving out the symbolic
offering of wheat and grapes and substituting a rose and basket of
flowers in their stead. The very men who had repeated Botticelli's
Greek myths and classical fantasie, .ten years before, now gave them
selves up to the manufacture of Madonnas and Angels. Jacopo del
154

Photograph —Houghton.]
MADONNA FROM THE ANNUNCIATION
(A School Work)

From a carbon-print cy Draun, Clement and Co., Doi-nach.

MADOXXA, WITH ANGELS BEARING TAPERS.
Berlin.

Houghton.

THE ANNUNCIATION".
Uffizi, Florence.

SCHOOL WORKS
Sellajo's hand has been recognized in the charming tondo of the
Liechtenstein collection, with the seven angels bearing flowerino- lilies-
and Biagio Tucci probably painted the Raczynski Madonna, with the
eight angels wreathed with roses and bearing lighted tapers and vases
of red and white roses in their hands, which is now at Berlin. Other
artists of inferior powers, whose names have not survived, produced
the well-known tondo ofthe National Gallery, with its wild roses in the
background, which bears Giuliano di Sangallo's name on the panel,
the Madonna ofthe Roses in the Pitti, a graceful but feeble imitation of
the- Ambrosiana picture, the Virgin adoring the Child, with the flower
ing rosebush, in Lord Wemyss' collection ; the tondi at Vienna and
Turin, and in the Borghese Gr.llery, and the so-called Madonna del
Passeggio, with its exaggerated expression of utter weariness and
exhaustion. All of these more or less feeble productions retain certain
peculiarities of type, as~weTT"as~a certain tenderness of feeling, which
\i^XSJ^~^€rr~^mnyy~;m^n Botticelli's art, and afford a fresh proof of the
shrgulaxjjold which his cpnceptionsnad gained upon the public mind.
InXrrost iDFlhemrthe flowers 'which he loved so well are reproduced,
especially the roses, which he brings into his classical and sacred sub
jects. Often the very slightest of his motives, a spray of olive or a
Madonna lily, the lighted candles borne by the Virtues, who dance round
the chariot of Beatrice in the meadows of Paradise, or the roses which
flutter round the angel-choirs of heaven, are employed by his imitators
to adorn their pictures and hide the poverty of their own invention.
It is no easy task to recognize the different hands which executed
these innumerable school-works, but of later years some progress has
been made with these attempts, and Mr. Berenson has assigned a whole
group, including the fine Tobias and the Archangels at Turin, several
Madonnas and the charming series of the Story of Esther, formerly
in Casa Torrigiani at Florence, to the clever assistant whom he calls
Amico di Sandro, for the lack of a better name.1 Then Hans Machow-
sky and Mrs. Berenson (Mary Logan) have made a careful study of the
works in which Jacopo del Sellajo's hand is plainly seen, while Mr.
Berenson has discovered the hand of Ghirlandajo's old pupil Barto
lommeo di Giovanni, the painter of Nastagio degli Onesti's Banquet,
1 " The Study and Criticism of Italian Art," pp. 46-69.
155

\

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
in many ofthe woodcuts ofthe " Sacre Rappresentazioni," which were
published in Florence during the last decade of the fifteenth century.1
Several of these small books are directly connected with Savonarola, and
represent the Friar preaching his great sermons to eager crowds in Santa
Maria del Fiore, or visiting a convent and addressing the nuns, or else
writing in his cell. These designs for woodcuts, executed by Piagnone
artists, probably prompted Vasari to assert that after his return from
Rome, Botticelli wasted his time in designing unsuccessful engravings,
the best of which was the Triumph of the Faith of Girolamo Savonarola di
Ferrara. It is true that Savonarola's treatise, the " Triumph of Faith,"
appeared with a frontispiece by some contemporary artist, who may
have been a scholar of Botticelli; but the book itself appeared six years
after Sandro's death, and is certainly not by his hand. Perhaps, as
Mr. Heath Wilson suggests, the historian was confusing the subject of
the master's unfinished -painting of the Adoration of Christ as King in
Florence with these engravings executed by his followers.
1 "Burlington Magazine," March, 1903, p. 18.

156

^lyssK

Koz KN

so HZwo

CHAPTER XV
H91— !5oo
Botticelli's paintings of St. Zenobius. — The Story of Virginia and Death of Lncrelia.— -Death of
Lorenzo dei Medici.— Sandro's relations with Lorenzo di Pier Francesco. — Simone Filipepi
shares his home and devotion to Fra Girolama. — Trial and death of Savonarola. — Persecu
tion of the Piagnoni.— ¦ Sandro's A llegory of Calumny.— -The Academy of Unemployed Artists.
— Doffo Spini's conversation with Sandro. — Botticelli's Nativity in the National Gallery.
AS long as Lorenzo dei Medici lived, he proved a good friend to
Botticelli. On the 5th of January, 1491, the painter was appointed
member of a commission which met to judge the designs which had
been prepared for the facade of the Duomo. Ghirlandajo, Alessio
Baldovinetti, Filippino Lippi, Perugino, Lorenzo di Credi, and.
Cronaca were among the members of the commission, and Lorenzo
himself presided over this important meeting. Antonio Pollaiuolo and
Giuliano da Maiano, and several other eminent architects, sent in
models for competition, but Lorenzo and his advisers ultimately agreed
to defer their decision for the present, saying that the question was too
important to be decided hastily.1 Four months later, on the 18th of May,
Botticelli was chosen, together with Domenico Ghirlandajo, his brother
and assistant David, and the miniaturists Gherardo and Monte di
Giovanni, to execute a series of mosaics for the decoration of the chapel
of St. Zenobius, in the Duomo. The work was never carried out, but
three panels on the life and miracles of the Saint, by the hand of
Sandro, which are still in. existence, may have been originally designed
in preparation for the task, and afterwards adapted for use as Cassoni.
Two of these, in which the calling, baptism and consecration of the
good Bishop, and his first miracles are represented, now belong to the
collection of Mr. Ludwig Mond. A third, formerly in the Metzger and
Ouandt collections, Is now in the Dresden Gallery. Here the Saint
1 Vasari, "Vite,"ed. Milanesi, vol. iv, p. 301
157

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
resuscitates a child, who has been run over by the wheels of a cart, and
restores him to his mother's embraces, while, in another compartment,
he is represented lying on his death-bed and giving his last blessing to
the assembled priests and people. Allof^these are marked by the same
richness a^d_js*axiety---0£ architecture and the same animated action.
TfiXconsternation aroused in the street by the accident "to the boy, and
the rapture of the mother who clasps her child once more in her arms
are both vividly depicted, but die_aiJistic~effec.t_of the whole is marred
by the crowds of figures introduced, and the violent gestures and
elctravagant emotion displayed by the different actors in the dramaf
Two "other interesting works of a similar nature, but of a finer and
more restrained style,. may be mentioned here, although their finer style
and more restrained action seem to point to an earlier date of execution.
One, the Story of Virginia, is in the Morelli Gallery at Bergamo,~thlX
other, the Death of Lucretia, has recently passed from the Ashburnham
Collection into that of Mrs. T. L. Gardner at Boston in the United
States. These long narrow panels were evidently intended for the
decoration of wedding chests or other furniture, and may, as Morelli
suggests, belong to the series which Sandro painted for the house of
his old patrons, the Vespucci. " In the Via dei Servi," writes Vasari,
" on the walls of a room in the house of Giovanni Vespucci, he painted
many pictures framed in richly-carved panelling of walnut wood, full of
beautiful and highly animated figures." Both pictures are remarkable
for the imposing character of the classical^architecture which is intro
duced in the background, and for the dramatic power with which the
different incidents in these tragic tales are represented. The Story of
Virginia is decidedly the finer of the two and contains, as Morelli has
said, "about fifty figures as spirited in conception as they are careful
in execution, each one indispensable to the harmony of the whole." As
Vasari remarks, Sandro certainly never grudged his pains, and his
smallest pictures are always crowded with figures. " Fu copioso di
figure nelle slorie." In this case, however, the composition is better
than usual, and the groups are less confused and the action less
exaggerated. " I could," writes Morelli, "scarcely name another work
in which Botticelli's great artistic qualities, as well as his defects, are
so strikingly apparent as in his masterly representation of this tragic
158

*s gaEfc ¦¦¦ iSs

From a carbon-Jrrint l,y Braun, Clement and Co., Dornach.
SCENE FROM -THE LIFE OF S. ZENOBICS.
Dresden.

DEATH OF LORENZO
scene." 1 The background of the picture is occupied by a stately basilica
adorned with bas-reliefs and pillars, where the Roman aedile administers
justice, seated on a raised tribunal, while in the foreground the actual
scene of Virginia's abduction takes place, and a group of armed riders,
chariots and prancing horses are introduced. This panel is, fortunately,
in excellent preservation and retains much of its original richness and
harmony of colour.
The different schemes for the completion and adorning of the Duomo
which, as we have seen, were set on foot in 1491, were interrupted by
the premature death of Sandro's great patron, Lorenzo il Magnifico.
All through the summer and autumn of that year he suffered acutely
from gout, and even the waters of Morbo and the pure air of the
Volterra hills failed to relieve his pains. The cold weather of the early
spring increased his sufferings, and when on the ioth of March, 1492,
the elevation of his son Giovanni to the Cardinalate was proclaimed,
Lorenzo was unable to be present at the solemn Mass celebrated in
honour of the occasion in the Duomo, and could only be carried round
on a litter, to greet the brilliant company assembled at the banquet in
the Medici Palace. Ten days later he was taken to his favourite villa
at Careo-gi, and there, with Pico and Poliziano to soothe his dying
moments, and Savonarola to give him the last blessing, the great man
died on Sunday, 8th April, at the age of forty-three. His body was
borne to Florence, and rested for two days in state in San Marco until,
on Tuesday the ioth of April, he was buried in the parish church of
San Lorenzo, by the side of his father and grandfather.
"Well may each one of us ask, 'what is this poor human life of
ours?'" moralizes Luca Landucci, in true Piagnone fashion, as he records
these events. "This man was to all appearance the most glorious
man livino-, and he had the greatest fame and the richest and proudest
position in the world. Everyone said that he governed Italy, and he
was indeed a wise man, and all that he did prospered. And he had just
succeeded in accomplishing what no other citizen had done for very
long, he had seen his son raised to the rank of Cardinal. And yet with
all this glory, when he reached this point he could go no further. O
man, man, what reason hast thou for boastfulness? May God, who
1 " Italian Painters," trans, by C. J. Ffoulkes," vol. ii, p. 85.
159

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
alone is great, pardon this man's sins, as I pray that he may pardon
mine! In Lorenzo dei Medici Florence lost her wisest and most successful
ruler, and her artists were deprived of their most enlightened patron.
The brilliant circle of which he had been the centre soon melted away.
Pico della Mirandola and Angelo Poliziano both died two years after
their illustrious friend, and Michelangelo left Florence. Botticelli
never appears to have had any dealings with the Magnifico's worthless
son, Piero, who soon disgusted his father's best friends, but he still
clung to his old patron, Lorenzo di Pier Francesco. Fortunately for
Sandro and his friends, this cousin of Lorenzo, as well as his younger
brother Giovanni, both joined the popular party, and were allowed to
remain in Florence and even employed on affairs of State when their
kinsman, Piero, and his family were expelled from the city. It was
probably about this time that Sandro began his series of drawings on
the " Divina Commedia " for this patron, and when, on the 14th of July,
1496, young Michelangelo wrote to Lorenzo di Pier Francesco, who
had sent him with introductions to his friends in Rome, he addressed
his letter to "Sandro del Botticello the painter," in a cover bearing
the Piagnone motto, "Christus!" But although Sandro had embraced
the doctrines of the Friar, and shared the general enthusiasm of his
revival, he must have seen with sorrow the dispersion of the magnificent
collections which Lorenzo and his family had acquired with so much
pains, the confiscation of the antique marbles and the priceless medals
and vases and the " many beautiful objects " which were sold by public
auction in front of Or San Michele.2 The revulsion of fickle popular
feeling vented itself in these angry reprisals, and it was only the
strenuous exertions of Savonarola, supported by Botticelli's learned
friend, Giorgio Vespucci, that saved the famous Laurentian Library.
Still sadder for the painter of the Tornabuoni frescoes was the summer
day when young Lorenzo, the mirror of fashion and popular leader of
the Florentine youth, was condemned to death with his four illustrious
fellow-citizens. In vain Guid' Antonio Vespucci begged for delay, and
Savonarola himself recommended the youth to mercy. Francesco Valori
was inexorable, and the five partizans of the Medici were put to
1 "Diario," p. 65. ' L. Landucci, "Diario."
160

c

OH

K
X

I

EXECUTION OF SAVONAROLA
death amid the lamentations of the spectators. Within the next few
months, Savonarola died at the stake, and the great movement closed
in tears and bloodshed. In 1498, the year of Savonarola's execution,
we learn from an income-tax paper that Sandro was still living in his
old home in the Via Nuova.1 Both his father and elder brother
Giovanni were dead, and the house was now the property of his
nephews, Benincasa and Lorenzi Filipepi. But Simone Filipepi, we
know, still lived under the same roof and shared a country house
(Casa di Signore) in the parish of San Sepolcro, with him. The
brothers, it appears, bought this house outside the gate of San Frediano,
together with a vineyard and some fields, soon after their father's death,
in April, 1494, for the sum of 156 florins and a yearly quit-rent of four
soldi and a pair of capons, which they paid to the Hospital of Santa
Maria Nuova. Thus it is clear that we need, not believe Vasari's
description of the extreme state of penury to which the painter found
himself reduced by his neglect of work and frenesia for the Frate's
cause. But Sandro must have suffered keenly during the terrible events
of 1498, which his brother records with all the vividness of an eye
witness who was profoundly interested in the issue of the struggle.
Step by step he follows his sainted leader through the days of his
waning popularity, and of the increasing animosity of his foes. He
describes the successive scenes ofthe ordeal by fire, the midnight attack
on the convent, the mock trial and falsified depositions, the torture and
dungeon, and the final execution on the Piazza, which Simone himself
witnessed. "I was present at this spectacle and say what I saw, and know
these things to be true." He records how on the scaffold Bishop Pagag-
notti pronounced the words: " I separate you from the Church militant
and triumphant " ; and how he heard the Frate reply: "Monsignore, you
are mistaken. You can separate me from the Church militant but not
from the Church triumphant. That remains with God (Sta a Dio)."
And he bears unfaltering witness to the Friar's holiness and purity of
life. " His worst enemies could not say a word against his conduct. He
read and prayed and wrote, and said his office, and never wasted a
moment, and gave audience to all who wished to see him. No one ever
left him unconsoled, although it were his worst enemy, and he was
1 Gaye, "Carteggio,'' vol. i, p. 343.
l6l Y

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
always joyous and cheerful. . . . When in prison, bound hand and
foot in the vilest dungeon, he bore his sufferings without a murmur—
this his jailer told me — but only said to him: ' Live honestly and God
will bring you to his paradise, where we shall be together again.' And
he wrote out a brief rule of life with his disabled hand, and gave the
man some advice for his little daughter, who sometimes came to see
him."1 And he adds that Ser Ceccone, the notary who drew up the
\ process and wrote down the supposed depositions ofthe Frate, died in
!the same year, crying out in the anguish of his remorse: " I have been
another Judas, and have betrayed innocent blood."
Very gloomy is the picture which contemporaries paint of the days
of persecution which followed, when many of the friars of San Marco
were cast into prison and his devoted followers were doomed to ruin
and death. Then the vilest calumnies were heaped upon the Frate and
his friends, and no one could speak his name without peril to his life.
All fear of God and reverence for holy things seemed to have died out,
blasphemy and sacrilege went unpunished. Hell itself seemed to open,
and all its devils were let loose. In those terrible days Simone Filipepi
fled for safety to Bologna, where many of the Piagnoni had already taken
shelter, but Sandro remained in Florence. His old connection with
the Medici and the friendship of Lorenzo di Pier Francesco stood him
in good stead ; but he saw the crime and misery about him, and shared
in the deep dejection of the faithful Piagnoni who had believed in the
prophet's word and looked for the coming of the New Jerusalem that
was to be set up on earth.
" And I was stupefied and amazed," writes Luca the chemist.
"And grief filled my heart at the sight of this fair edifice which had
suddenly crumbled into dust. . . . Florence looked to see the founda
tion of a New Jerusalem from which laws would go forth to the whole
world, and the coming of a new age, when all men would see the
splendour and example of good living and witness the reform of the
Church, the conversion of the infidels and the consolation of the good.
And now, alas! we saw the contrary of all these things. . . . In
voluntate tua Domine omnia stint posita." 2
Then it was that in the bitterness of his soul at the failure of these
' " Villari e Casanova," op. eit., p. 501. - " Diario," p. 173.
162

CALUMNY
high hopes, Sandro painted his Allegory of Calumny, that wonderful'
little picture which breathes so deep a sense of sadness and passionate
a faith in the final triumph of Truth. The subject was taken from the
" Dialogues " of the Greek poet Lucian, with which, as we have already
seen, Botticelli was intimately acquainted, probably through Guarino's
translation, and which had become familiar to Florentine artists from its
introduction into Alberti's "Treatise on Painting," that book which sup
plied Sandro with so many of his favourite motives. The scene is laid in a
noble pillared hall, adorned with antique statues and bas-reliefs of classical

Photograph— Houghton.}

CALUMNY (Uffizi)

subjects in chiaroscuro heightened with gold. Old Greek myths and
Roman stories are mingled with Hebrew legends. The gods of Hellas
and the Caesars of Imperial Rome appear side by side with the saints
and apostles of the Christian Church, in the true spirit of Florentine
humanists. Pallas bearing the Gorgon's head forms a companion piece
to Judith with the head of Holofernes, and St. George and the Dragon
are represented on the same frieze as Apollo and Daphne and a family
of Centaurs at play with a young lion. Venus and her Amorini, Jupiter
and Antiope, Trajan and the Widow, the Death of Lucretia, are intro
duced side by side with statues of apostles and prophets, and a single
163

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
figure of St. George, which recalls Donatello's statue in the niche of Or
San Michele and Andrea del Castagno's portrait of Pippo Spano.
Under this stately Renaissance portico a fearful crime is being
perpetrated in the name of Justice. The unjust judge, clad in a green
robe and bearing the crown and sceptre which denotes his kingly office,
as described by Lucian, is seated on his throne between Ignorance and
Suspicion, two repulsive-looking women, who with impatient gestures
and eager haste pour their malicious accusations into his long ears.

Photograph — Houghton.]
GROUP OF CALUMNY AND INNOCENCE, FROM CALUMNY
(Uffizi)
Before him Envy, a pale and squalid figure, clad in shaggy skins,
having, in Alberti's words, the air of a person exhausted by longconflict,
reaches out one skinny hand to arrest the judge's attention and leads
forward Calumny with the other. This central figure of the allegory
appears, according to Alberti's directions, in the form of a fair and
richly-clad woman, " una donnetta bella," with a cunning and malicious
face. In one hand she bears a flaming torch, while with the other she
drags the prostrate boy Innocence by the hair along the floor, heedless
of his prayers for mercy. Two attendants, Fraud and Treachery, wait
upon her footsteps, and with hurried, agitated movements and gestures
164

CALUMNY
wreath their mistress's head with roses. A few steps from this group,
at the feet of Innocence, stands Remorse, an old hag, with bent fio-ure
and decrepit limbs, wearing a black mantle over her ragged clothes and
leaning on a crutch as she looks back over her shoulder at the nude form
of Truth who, fair as Venus Anadyomene of old, lifts her hand to
heaven in the calm certainty that there her mute appeal will be heard.
Through the open arches of the pillared loggia behind we look out
on a wide waste of green waters and far horizons, which leave an in
definite sense of dreariness on the mind, the expression of the painter's
conviction that Truth and Justice were nowhere to be found upon
earth. This allegory, in which the classical ideals of the master's early
manhood are combined with the bitter experiences of later years was
Sandro's silent protest against the tragedy of Fra Girolamo' s cruel end.
When he painted that inspired vision of Truth, with the upturned eyes
and the tresses of golden hair streaming over her white limbs, can we
doubt that he recalled the burning words with which the Frate closed
his great course of sermons on the Psalm Ouam bonus: "Wine is strong;,
the king is strong, women are stronger, but Truth is mightier than all,
and will prevail."

The story is told with dramatic force and vigour, if, as in most of
Sandro's last works, the violent gestures and confusion of the figures
mar the general effect, and the rich, harmonious colouring and pro
fusion of gold in the sculptured friezes agrees with the technique of the
Nativity of 1500, a picture of about the same size. This little A llegory
of Calumny probably belongs to the same dark days, when no one dared"
speak the Frate's name and honest men could only declare their secret
thoughts in parables. Then, in the silence and solitude of his home,
Sandro painted this wonderful little picture and gave it to his dearest
and most intimate friend Antonio Segni. Perhaps Antonio was a
Piagnone, like himself,* and understood the hidden meaning of his
painted allegory. We know, at all events, that he was a man of taste
and culture, the chosen friend of another great painter Leonardo, who
a year or two later gave him his own noble drawing of Neptune and the
Sea-gods riding the Waves. He treasured Botticelli's Cahtmny among
his choicest possessions, and his son, Fabio Segni, in whose house
165

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
Vasari saw the little painting, "a thing as beautiful as it well can be,"
wrote the following Latin epigram upon the frame :
Judicio quemquam ne falso laedere tentent
Terrarum reges, parva tabella monet.
Huic similem Aegypti regi donavit Apelles ;
Rex fuit et dignus munere, munus eo.
"This little panel is a warning to mortal kings not to judge any
man falsely. Apelles gave a similar work to the King of Egypt. The
King was worthy of the gift and the gift not unworthy of the King." J
Even in those dark days Sandro's faith in the Friar never wavered.
Every line of Simone's chronicle breathes the same profound conviction
that this man, whom Florence had rejected and put to death, was a
prophet sent from God. The writer notes how in the course of the next
few years many of Fra Girolamo's words have come true, and dwells
with satisfaction on the violent and miserable end which had already
overtaken some of his most bitter enemies, Pope Alexander VI, Caesar
Borgia, King Alfonso of Naples, Lodovico Sforza, and many others.
And he records the unwilling testimony borne to Savonarola's innocence
by his jailors and persecutors, most of all by Doffo Spini, the bold and
reckless leader of the' riotous Compagnacci who stormed the convent,
and who was afterwards present at the Frate's trial.
Among other curious records, on the 9th of April, 1503, Simone
notes down a conversation which he had that day with Doffo Spini,
whom he met in the street as he left his house in the Via Nuova to go
to vespers at San Marco. A certain Bartolommeo Carducci, who was
walking with Doffo, turned angrily on Simone, reproaching him with
all the ruin and trouble which Fra Girolamo and the Piagnoni had
brought upon the city. Upon which Doffo Spini took up the subject
and said that he never knew Fra Girolamo until he saw him in prison,
1 Another curious little picture of this period, in which ^Ir. Berenson and Dr. Steinmann
recognize Botticelli's hand, is the so-called Derelitta or Outcast in the PaUavicini Palace in
Rome. A young woman in a ragged white linen garment is seated on the steps of a stately
Renaissance building, weeping bitterly. Her long dark hair falls heavily over her face, her
head is buried in her hands, and her other clothes lie strewn on the steps around her. In her
loneliness she is the very image of inconsolable despair. This figure bears some resemblance to
that of Remorse in the Allegory of Calumny, but it is difficult to believe that this work, which
is so curiously modern in style and sentiment, could have been painted by a fifteenth century
master.
166

>
Z ._•

DOFFO SPINI'S CONVERSATION
and during his examinations. "If," he added, "I had heard him
before and knew him intimately — as Simone here," he said, turnino- to
me, " I should have been an even more ardent follower of his than
Simone; because I saw nothing but good in him until his death; but it
was necessary that he should lay down his life, as it was with Christ."
"And he said many other things which I may perhaps one day write
in this book," continues Simone, "although not without dano-er • but
now my bark is still on the high seas, and I must guide its course
wisely, trusting in God to bring me safely to port." l
In the "Giornate" of that devoted Piagnone, Lorenzo Violi, we
find repeated allusions to an "Academy of Unemployed Artists " who
having no work to fill their time in those troubled days, were in the
habit of meeting in the shop of Sandro Botticelli. The name of Savon
arola was often on the lips of these artists who, having nothing better
to do, fought the old battles over again, and attacked or defended the
Frate's actions and teaching, according as they were Arrabbiati or
Piagnoni. On these occasions, Lorenzo Violi tells us, the painter's
brother Simone was often present, and wrote down some of these dis
cussions in his "Cronaca." Amongst others, Simone has recorded the
following conversation, which took place on the Feast of All Souls,
November 2nd, 1499.
"Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, my brother, one of the good
painters whom we have had in these times in our city, being in my
presence, by the fireside at home, about eight o'clock at night, told me
how that day, in his shop in Sandro's house, he had reasoned with
Doffo Spini on the fate of Fra Girolamo. And indeed Sandro, knowing
Doffo to have been one of the chief persons who had been present at
his examination, adjured him to tell him the real truth as to what
crimes were found in him to deserve so shameful a death. Upon which
Doffo replied: "Sandro, must I speak the truth? We never found in
him any venial, much less any mortal sin." Then Sandro asked him:
" Why then did you put him to so shameful a death? " " It was not I,"
replied Doffo, "but Benozzo Federighi. And if we had not put this
prophet and his companions to death, but had sent them back to San
Marco, the people would have sacked our houses and cut us all to
1 " Villari e Casanova," op. eit., p. 499.
I67

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
pieces. The thing had gone so far that we determined that they must
die for our own sake. After that many other words passed between them,
which I need not repeat." 1 This interesting record throws light on the
painting of the Nativity which Sandro completed a few months after
the November evening when he extorted that memorable confession of
Fra Girolamo's innocence from Doffo Spini. It is clearly one of those
works which, like the portraits of Savonarola and the pictures of his
execution, were hidden by his devoted followers in the days of persecu
tion, and handed down as treasures by their descendants. Sixty years
ago, this Nativity was brought from Florence to England by Mr. Young
Ottley, and in 1878, it passed from the Fuller-Maitland collection into
the National Gallery.
. Here the painter's soaring fancy has transformed the story of the
birth of Christ into a mystic vision of the triumph of Savonarola and
his final reward. The rude wooden roof of the penthouse is set against
a rocky cavern, in the heart of a pine forest. The Madonna kneels in
adoration before her new-born Child, and St. Joseph crouches on the
floor with his head sunk in his folded arms, watching over his charge.
On the right a winged angel. with an olive-branch in his hand, urges on
the shepherds who kneel in lowly worship before the manger throne.
On the left another eager seraph, with a branch and scroll in his hand,
turns to the kneeling Kings from the East whom we see here, crowned
with olive and clad in flowing white robes, and points to the Holy Child
whose presence they seek. Three angels, clad in symbolic hues of
white, red, and green, with olive crowns on their heads and olive
branches in their hands, sing the " Gloria in Excelsis " from an open
chant-book, on the pent-house roof. In the blue sky above, twelve
more seraphs dance hand in hand, swinging olive-boughs to and fro,
and dangling their golden crowns in an ecstasy of joy.
The hour, long foretold by the Cumaean Sibyl on the banks of
Lake Avernus, has come at length. There is joy in heaven, and peace
and goodwill on earth. The Virgin's face has lost all trace of care and
sadness, and the Child laughs for gladness as he looks up in his
mother's face. In the foreground crawling devils are seen hurrying
away to hide among the rocks, while rejoicing angels fall on the necks

" Villari e CasarrovaX' op. eit., p. 508.
168 ,

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THE NATIVITY
of Fra Girolamo and his martyred companions, and welcome them with
rapturous embraces. On the scroll in the foremost angel's hand we read
the words: " Homini bus bonae voluntatis," an allusion to the message
of peace and goodwill which the Frate brought to mankind. As a
further proof of his unshaken belief in the innocence of the three Saints
whom he represents crowned with olive and wearing the Dominican
habit, Sandro has written the following words in Greek letters on the
upper part of the panel: "This picture I, Alessandro, painted at the

Photograph— Houghton.}

THE HOLY FAMILY
A Study for the Nativitv (Uffizi)

close of the year 1500, during the troubles of Italy, in the half-time
after the time which was prophesied in the eleventh of St. John, and the
Second Woe of the Apocalypse, when the devil was loosed upon the
earth for three years and a half. Afterwards he shall be put in chains
according to the Twelfth, and we shall see him trodden under foot as in
this picture."1 In these mystical terms, borrowed from the Book of
Daniel, Sandro proclaims his conviction that Savonarola and his mar
tyred companions were the witnesses slain for the word of their testimony,
as told by St. John in the eleventh chapter of the Book of Revelation.
And he tells us 'in no uncertain voice that the hour of vengeance is at
hand when the accuser of the brethren will be cast down and bound. '
¦ This inscription was first deciphered by Professor Colvin, who published his interpretation
of the Greek lines in the " Portfolio " of 1871.
169 Z

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
So the painter would have us know that in these dark and desperate
times, his faith in the Friar had never failed, and that he still looked
forward to a day when the prophet's word should be fulfilled, and good
triumph over evil.
A pen-drawing of a kneeling Madonna, with St. Joseph crouching
behind the Child, is still preserved in the Uffizi, and although it differs
in some respects from the picture, was evidently a preliminary study for
the central group. In the faulty proportions of these figures as well as
in the hasty execution of the faces, we see signs of decaying powers
and advancing years. But the colour of the picture is rich and glowing,
and the dancing Angels are as light and joyous in their movements as
any which Sandro drew of old. Above all his imagination is as full of
fire and buoyancy, his faith and love are as strong as in the early days
of his youth, when he first painted for the Medici.
Another drawing, which was evidently a sketch for the three Angels
singing the "Gloria in excelsis" on the penthouse roof, is preserved
in the Uffizi, and is so delicate and beautiful an example of Sandro's
art that no student of his work should fail to see it. Mr. Berenson has
lately drawn attention to the exquisite charm of these seraphs, ten of
whom are floating through the air with their faces turned toward each
other, whilea third, resting his hands on their shoulders, wafts them gently
forward, and they all sing their hymn of praise together from an open
book. This little drawing, which bears a close affinity to the painter's
drawings of the Paradiso, is the more precious because so few of Botti
celli's original sketches have been preserved. Probably those "infinite
bands of apprentices" who worked in the bottega, and to whom Sandro
showed himself so kind and indulgent a master, employed them so
constantly for their own pictures that, as Mr. Berenson suggests, "they
were worn to tatters by repeated use."1
1 " The Drawings of Florentine Painters," vol. i, p. 60. For a full description of Botticelli's
own studies, as well as those of his school, we must refer our readers to this valuable work.

170

Han/itaengl.

THE NATIVITY.
National Gallery.

CHAPTER XVI

1490— 1 510

Botticelli's illustrations of Dante's " Divina Commedia."— The copper-plates of Landino's edition
of "Dante." — History of the Dante drawings. — The Inferno.— Purgatorio.— Paradiso. 
Introduction of Botticelli's name in the twenty-eighth drawing of Paradiso.— Meeting of
artists to choose a site for Michelangelo's David. — Botticelli's last years and death.  Decline
of his popularity in Florence.
THE Nativity of 1500 was, as far as we know, the last picture which
Botticelli ever painted. But he lived ten years longer, and prob
ably devoted much of his time during this last period of his exist
ence to one of his greatest works, the illustration of the "Divina
Commedia." A revived enthusiasm for the study of Dante had been one of the
leading features which distinguished the Florentine humanists of
Sandro's time. Lorenzo himself made repeated efforts to obtain the
restoration of the great poet's ashes from the Podesta of Ravenna, and
translated Dante's treatise, " De Monarchia," and another of the fore
most scholars of the age, Cristoforo Landino, the friend of Alberti and
Marsilio Ficino, wrote a commentary on the "Divina Commedia,"
which was solemnly presented to the Signoria on its publication in 148 1.
From early days, Botticelli shared in this enthusiasm, and was himself
an ardent student of Dante. "After his return from Rome," writes
Vasari, "being a man of a speculative turn of mind, he wrote a com
mentary on part of Dante, illustrated the 'Inferno' and had it printed;
and in these occupations he wasted a great deal of time and neglected
his own work, which was a cause of infinite disorder in his life."
If Sandro, as Vasari tells us twice over, ever wrote a commentary
on Dante, the work has not hitherto come to light, but the drawings
with which he illustrated the three divisions of his fellow-citizen's
great poem of heaven and earth, have fortunately been preserved.
Another of his biographers, the Anonimo Gaddiano, gives us further
171

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
information on the subject; saying that Sandro " illustrated a Dante
in carta pecora (parchment) for Lorenzo di Pier Francesco dei Medici,
which was held to be a marvellous thing." But, although we know the
name of the illustrious patron from whom Sandro received this im
portant commission, we have no certain knowledge of the date when
the vast work was executed. There can be little doubt that it extended
over many years, and made large demands on the painter's time and
thoughts, "consuming," as Vasari says, "valuable hours, and leading
him to neglect more profitable engagements." Sandro may even have
begun the work, as the biographer tells us, soon after his return from
Rome, but more probably about 1490, while from the style and work
manship of the "Paradiso," he was evidently engaged upon this portion
of the poem during the last years of the century, when he made the
pen-and-ink studies for the Nativity in the Uffizi.
There is, indeed, a strong probability that he turned his attention
to the illustration of the " Divina Commedia" at a still earlier period
in his career, and supplied the original sketches for the nineteen copper
plates of the "Inferno," which adorned the edition published at Florence
in 1481 by the German printer, Nicolaus Lorenzo, or Niccolo della
Magna, as he was called in Italy. These plates, which are executed in
the rude manner of early Tuscan engravers, were formerly ascribed to
Baccio Baldini, a Florentine goldsmith, whose plates, according to
Vasari, were all designed by Botticelli. Dr. Lippmann, however, who
made a minute and elaborate analysis of these engravings, which ap
peared in the same volume containing Landino's commentary, is of
opinion that the true name of the artist is still unknown, but that he
certainly worked from Sandro's drawings. The close connection between
these copper-plates and the drawings by Botticelli's hand now pre
served at Berlin and in the Vatican, is undeniable, although it is im
possible to say how far the painter was responsible for the actual
designs. The history of the Dante drawings which Sandro executed for his
old friend and constant patron, Lorenzo di Pier Francesco, is also wrapt
in obscurity. All we know is that the volume bears a label with the
word Paris, April, 1803, and the name of Giovanno Claudio Molini,
a Florentine bookseller who had considerable dealing-s with English
172

THE DANTE DRAWINGS
and French collectors. He it was, we may conclude, who brought the
precious volume which had laid forgotten in some old Florentine
library, to Paris, and sold it to the Duke of Hamilton, by whom it was
placed among the treasures of Hamilton Palace, near Glasgow. There
it was discovered fifty years ago by Dr. Waagen, who Immediately
recognized Botticelli's style in the drawings, and declared that these
were the Dante illustrations mentioned by Vasari. In 1882, this book,
containing eighty-five drawings by Sandro's own hand, was purchased
by the Prussian Government at the Hamilton sale, and has now been
placed in the Berlin Museum. A folio of admirable facsimile reproduc
tions, with full explanatory text, was published in 1896, by the late
Dr. Lippmann, which affords students the opportunity of becoming more
closely acquainted with these deeply interesting works.
When this illustrated Dante first came into the Duke of Hamilton's
possession, sixteen sheets were found to be wanting. Eight of these,
belonging to the early part of the " Inferno" (cantos 2-7, 11, and 14),
are still missing; but the other eight (cantos 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, and 16)
were fortunately discovered by Dr. Joseph Strzygowski, in the Vatican
Library, eighteen years ago. They formed part of the collections of
Queen Christina of Sweden, and were bought from her by Pope Alex
ander VII in 1689. In the quality of the parchment, and in the style
of both writing and illustration, these sheets agree exactly with the
original volume formerly in Hamilton Palace, and must have been
removed from that book during the seventeenth century.
Thus we see that Botticelli's work originally consisted of a hundred
drawings, besides the title-page and coloured diagram of Hell, which
is now in the Vatican library, among the illustrations described and
reproduced by Dr. Strzygowski. ( All of these were first drawn with a
soft silver-point, supposed to contain an alloy of lead, and afterwards
roughly traced over with pen and ink. Only three of the series are
painted in body-colour; while a fourth, illustrating Canto 10, now
in the Vatican, is partly tinted; the figure of Dante being painted
red and that of Virgil blue.] In all probability Botticelli originally
intended the whole series to be coloured in conformity with the usual
practice, but gave up the idea owing to the unsatisfactory result of his
first experiments in this method. \ Dr. Strzygowski, indeed, is of opinion
173

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
that the colouring of the four drawings was the work of some minia
turist; but the late Dr. Lippmann,1 a critic of high authority, expressed
his conviction that both drawing and colouring were exclusively Sandro's
work, and that no other hand had a share in these illustrations. Many
of the drawings are badly damaged and several are partly effaced, while
the composition is of very unequal merit. The types and costumes of
the figures in many instances bear a marked relation to the work of
earlier illustrators who, during the course of the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries, had devoted their attention to Dante's great poem and
adorned the poems of the " Divina Commedia " with miniatures. Chief
among these are the Modena Codex from the Este library, belonging to
the latter half ofthe fourteenth century, and. the Altona Codex, which
is the work of three Florentine painters who lived early in the fifteenth
century. In both of these the method adopted by the artists is the
same that we see in Botticelli's manuscript — that is to say, the illustra
tions are drawn with with the pen and lightly coloured with a wash of
water-colour. Those of the Altona Codex are especially noteworthy,
and include- many striking figures in contemporary costume, such as
Brunette Latini, Vanni and others. The Centaur Cacus, who is seen in
the illustration of the twenty-fifth canto of the " Inferno," is remark
ably similar to Sandro's rendering of the same subject, and the drawing
of the griffin, leading the car of the Church as described in the twenty-
ninth canto, is introduced in both of the earlier works; while in a third
Codex of the fifteenth century, now at Naples, the chariot drawn by the
griffin, and escorted by the elders, crowned with green wreaths, and
angels bearing the seven-branched candlesticks, appears exactly as in
Botticelli's illustration.2 Another and better known Dante Codex is the
MS. from the Urbino collection, which is still preserved in the Vatican
Library. This MS. once belonged to Duke Federico, and to judge from
the traces of Mantegna and Piero dei Franceschi's influence which the
drawings bear, was executed about 1470 or 1480. Here the represen
tations of Roman heroes and classical legends show a considerable know
ledge of the antique, while the illustrations of the " Paradiso," which
1 "Zeichnungen von Sandro Botticelli zu Dante's Goltlichen Komodie." Dr. Franz
Lippmann, p. ii.
'* " Bildische Darstellungen von Dante," L. Volkmann, p. 24.
174

THE INFERNO
are generally ascribed to Giulio Clovio, are of a higher order than any
ofthe drawings in the earlier series. But a finer artistic conception of
the theme and a more skilful hand was needed to give expression to
Dante's creations; and this we find for the first time in the drawings of
the Berlin Museum. Both by nature and education Sandro was pre
eminently fitted for the task. His mystic temperament, the powerful
attraction which theological subjects evidently had for his mind, led him
to take profound interest in the divine poet's work, and the close and
attentive study which he had devoted to the great poem, is revealed
at every page of his drawings. Now, after the lapse of four centuries,
Sandro's illustrations remain the best and most satisfying artistic inter
pretation of Dante's great epic that has ever been attempted, while
they deserve to rank among the finest and most imaginative works of
the Renaissance. The master's hand is plainly visible throughout. We recognize
his peculiar type of features ; his skill in depicting rapid movement
and flying draperies; his love of natural beauty in the delicate drawing
of trees and flowers, in the myrtle and orange, the palm and pome
granate, the flowering blossoms and grasses, the slender stems and
fluttering roses of his celestial regions. We see his marvellous beauty
of design, his supreme mastery of line, alike in the leaping flames and
nude forms of the circles of his " Inferno," and in the swaying trees and
dancino- angels of his " Paradiso." And we see his wonderful powers
of expression in the different scenes in which Dante follows every word
and o-esture of his adored Lady, as she expounds the mysteries ofthe
Christian faith, in the rapt face and yearning eyes ofthe listening poet,
in the radiant smile and uplifted gaze of Beatrice.
The illustrations of the " Inferno," as might be expected, form the
least successful portion of the painter's work. The compositions are
too often crowded and confused and the introduction of mediaeval
imagery is more grotesque than imposing. There is little attempt at
dramatic expression, and the painter fails to render the gloom and
horror; the fierce passions and mingled emotions, the love and hatred,
the anguish and despair, which are so vividly described in the poet's
story. But the care with which Sandro follows the text of the poem is
evident throughout his work, and gives these illustrations an extra-
175

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
ordinary interest. This close attention to the text of the poem is
remarkably shown in the coloured diagram of the " Inferno," which
originally formed the frontispiece of the volume, and in which not only
the nine different circles of hell, but the principal events of the poet's
pilgrimage are introduced. We see the rushing stream of Acheron and
the bark of Charon ; the naked souls shivering on the brink, and the
horned devils, painted red and yellow, who torment unhappy sinners.
We see the flaming walls and lofty battlements of the city of Dis,
and the blazing sarcophagi where Dante finds Farinata and Pope
Anastasius. In his minute and elaborate analysis of this plan, Dr.
Strzygowski has even succeeded in identifying many of the chief per
sonages whom the poet meets in these regions. The figures of Homer
and the old Greek and Latin poets, of Paolo and Francesca, clasped
together as they are borne on the whirlwind ; the three-headed Cerberus,
the harpies and centaurs, Pluto and Geryon, may all be distinguished.
The costume of the two poets is especially noteworthy. Virgil wears a
blue robe and deep crimson mantle, with a white collar and a high
pointed cap in the form of a mitre, of the same purple colour, trimmed
with fur and lined with white. His beard and venerable aspect agree
with the description of Virgil teaching in his school in Rome, which is
given in the curious mediaeval romance of " Dolopathos," and show
how closely Botticelli followed these old traditions. Dante, on the
contrary, has no beard, and wears a red cap and mantle over a green
robe throughout the series.
In accordance with the practice of many older Giottesque masters,
Botticelli has grouped several incidents together in a single subject.
The figure of Dante, for instance, appears as many as five times in the
first illustration (Canto i in the Vatican). We see the poet lost in the
depths of a tangled forest,
Che la diritta via era smarrita,
we watch him emerging from the thicket to climb a hill lighted by the
beams of the rising sun, and foiled in his attempt by the successive
appearance of the panther, the lion, and the wolf. The different trees
of the forest, the pine with its cones, the laurel and orange, are all drawn
with exquisite care and delicacy, and the countenance of the poet Virgil,
176

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THE INFERNO
the dolce Duca who finally comes to Dante's rescue, is singularly noble
and expressive. We follow the poets through the circles ofthe Inferno,
and see the torments of the lost and the hideous exultation of the
fiends, the centaurs armed with arrows and the harpies darting snakes
of fire. The wealth of the painter's imagination finds full scope in the
illustration of the eighth and ninth Cantos, where Dante and Virgil are
rowed across the waters of the Styx in the bark of Phlegyas to the city
of Dis, and the devils', who guard the battlements, forbid the poets to
enter. The Furies, crowned and girdled about with snakes, appear on
the towers, and a grinning devil holds up the Gorgon head, which Virgil
hides with his hands from Dante's sight; while below we see a heavenly
messenger flying across the Styx to their help. At his touch the gates
fall back and the poets enter the City of Hell, and walk along the
narrow path among the flaming graves, where Farinata and Cavalcanti
rise from the tomb to greet them. jAgain, in the thirteenth Canto, he
has a subject to his taste in the tangled thorns and briars of the thicket,
where suicides expiate their crime, and harpies make their nest among
the brambles, while hell-hounds devour the prodigal. The horrors of
Malebolge and the lake of the boiling pitch, which reminded Dante of
the Arsenal of Venice, where fraudulent money-changers are punished,
and horned devils armed with hooks and forks, drive them back into
the boiling flood, are depicted with the most vivid realism. But by far
the finest drawing of the Inferno is the illustration of Canto XXXI.
Here we reach the edge of the lowest circle, where six naked giants,
bound in chains, keep guard round the mouth of the yawning gulf.
Nimrod, the mighty hunter, blows his horn, and Antaeus, holding
Virgil and Dante in his right hand, lowers them down into the
nethermost abyss. (The composition is full of grandeur and originality,
and the admirable foreshortening and modelling of the nude forms
recall Sandro's early studies under Antonio Pollaiuolo. Deep down in
the lowest circles, we see the traitors fast bound in a frozen sea, Ugolino
devouring Archbishop Roger's skull, and Lucifer— a three-headed
monster with bat's wings— crushing the arch-traitors, Judas Iscariot,
Brutus and Cassius between his teeth.
All of Botticelli's illustrations for the thirty-three Cantos of the
" Purgatorio " have been preserved, and on the margin of the first nine
177 AA

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
drawings we read the opening words of each Canto, written with the
same pen that traced the figures. " Pechorre miglior aqua " is inscribed
at the foot of the first subject, which shows us Virgil and Dante's meet
ing with Cato of Utica. In the foreground Virgil bathes the poet's face
and girds him with reeds, while a troop of blessed souls borne on a
bark guided by Angel-bands, to the shore, leap on land, with uplifted
hands, chanting "In Exitti Israel." For the benefit of the reader
Sandro has sketched a diagram of the Mount of Purification, with its
different circles, which rise from the sea, as described by Dante,
opposite to the city of Jerusalem. Step by step we see the poets climb
ing the steep mountain-side, and passing through the crowd of souls
that wait at the gates of Purgatory. There we see the joyful meeting
between Virgil and his countryman Sordello:
O Mantovano, io son Sordello
Della tua terra. E l'un l'altro abbracciava,
and the eagle that bears Dante, in his sleep, to the gate where the
seated angel writes the letter P. with a flaming sword seven times on
his brow, in token of the seven deadly sins which are to be expiated
in this place. In the tenth drawing Botticelli gives us a representation
of the white marble walls of the first circle, adorned with bas-reliefs
carved with examples of humility — the Annunciation, King David
dancing before the ark while Michal looks on from a window, and the
story of Trajan and the widow, as told by Dion Cassius. This last sub
ject, always a favourite story in mediaeval times, occupies a prominent
place, and contains a number of carefully drawn figures, to which the
master has devoted especial attention, while in the background he has
introduced a battle-scene with a mass of serried spears, which strongly
resembles Leonardo's famous cartoon of the Battle of Anghiari. In the
twelfth drawing we have corresponding examples of the proud receiving
the chastisement of their sins, according to the words of the Magnificat:
" He hath put down the mighty from their seat."
The Fall of Lucifer, the Flight of the Assyrians, the Collapse of
the Tozver of Babel, the Death of Saul, the Sorrows of Niobe, and the
Ruin of Troy are all lightly sketched out, and as in the Calumny, pagan
and Christian motives are freely mingled together. The figures of Pallas,
Mars, and Apollo are represented standing at the side of Jupiter, who
178

Z "
§1

UL

THE PURGATORIO
contemplates the destruction of the Titans with serene equanimity. In
the same drawing we see an angel folding the poet in a tender embrace
that recalls the seraphs who welcome Savonarola and his martyred
companions in the painting of the Nativity, while further on the same
angel wipes away a P. from Dante's brow with a touch of his wing.
In the twenty-second Canto Dante and Virgil are joined by Statius,
and the three poets are seen standing under the spreading branches of
the tree laden with sweet-scented fruit:
Con pomi ad odorar soavi e buoni. « *j\ 5^Q
Here Botticelli has, after his wont, drawn every leaf and^ twig of
the tree^with the greate^F~caTe^and" delicacy. —InXhe twenty-second
Canto it resemblesaTirfTnTfiie fwenfy-ffiirdlhe^tioTiage and ripe fruit
hanging from the boughs recall the orange-trees in the Primavera,
and a group of hungry spirits are seen hastening with eager gaze and
outstretched hands to reach the fruit of which they may not taste.
Very fine, too, is the illustration of the twenty-seventh canto, with
the curling flames leaping up round the poor souls who here do penance
for the sins of the flesh, and chant the " Summae Deus cle?nentiae" in
their pain. We see Dante with folded hands entering the flames at the
angel's bidding, and we see him issue from the fiery trial to be crowned
with a laurel wreath by the " dolce Duca " at his side.
Per ch' io te sopra te corono e mitrio.
Virgil's task is done; he has led Dante through the fires of hell
and purgatory, and henceforth the poet needs his guidance no longer.
Lord of himself and master of his passions, he is crowned with the
temporal and spiritual crown, the wisdom that is alike human and
divine, and his purified soul is rendered meet to enter the courts of
heaven, and gaze on the face of Beatrice.
These scenes, full of mystic significance and beauty, were exactly
suited to Botticelli's genius, and the painter has made good use of the
opportunities afforded him in the closing cantos of the "Purgatorio."
He takes us into the heart of the " divina foresta spessa e viva," where
Matilda, a lovely woman after his favourite type, plucks flowers in the
grassy meadow along the banks of the river Eunoe, singing as she goes,
179

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
and shows us the poet standing at her side, with questioning hand,
engaged in earnest converse. Suddenly a splendid light breaks over the
dark forest, the sound of celestial melodies is heard, and Dante, lifting
his head, sees the great vision of Beatrice throned triumphant on the
car of the Church. This subject covers the whole of a double sheet, and
contains more figures than any other in the book. The chariot is drawn
by a winged griffin, the symbol of Christ, and attended by the emblems
of the four Evangelists, who walk at the corners of the car. The four
cardinal virtues and three Christian graces, in the form of fair maidens
wreathed with garlands of flowers, and clad in puffed and flying
draperies, like the angels of the Coronation, dance with light footsteps
and swaying arms on either side. Seven angels, bearing lighted candle
sticks with long columns of smoke streaming across the heavens, and
four-and-twenty elders, holding the open book of the Old Testament,
as described in Landino's commentary, stand on the opposite side,
facing the heavenly chariot. Two aged men, St. Paul and St. Luke,
as the writers of the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles, accompanied
by the four Fathers of the Church, walk behind the car, and last of all
the venerable figure of St. John the Evangelist, the seer of Patmos,
with head sunk in slumber on his clasped hands, brings up the rear.
Beatrice herself, veiled in white and crowned with olive, is seated on the
chariot, attended by angels who scatter roses in the air while the elders
chant " Veni Sponsa de Libano," and Dante, bereft of his " dolce Duca,"
stands sadly on the shores of the stream, overwhelmed by the power of
the old love, and the consciousness of his own unworthiness. All of
these different motives are united in one magnificent picture, on which
Botticelli has lavished his highest powers and rarest skill, and has
marvellously succeeded in realizing the divine poet's vision.
In the next drawing we see Beatrice gently dipping Dante in the
cleansing waters of Lethe, after which the four Virtues, dancing as they
go, lead them to Christ, and the three Christian Graces sing beside his
lady's car. Last of all, in the thirty-third drawing, Beatrice appears
seated at the foot of the tree, with an expression of deep sadness on her
beautiful features, while the seven maidens chant the seventy-eighth
Psalm: " Deus, venerunt gentes, polluerunt templum sanctum tuum,"
"Thy holy temple have they defiled and made Jerusalem an heap of
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THE PARADISO
stones." Then Dante, at her bidding, is led by Matilda to drink ofthe
healing stream, and, strengthened by the draught of holy water, feels
his powers of body and soul renewed and ready to enter Paradise:
Puro e disposto a salire alle stelle.
This last subject is one of the finest in the whole series. The
foliage of the different trees in the forest is drawn with exquisite care
and taste. As many as seven or eight different species may be distin
guished, the palm, orange, citron, medlar and pomegranate are all
clearly seen, while the wailing figures, standing on the banks of the
river with bowed heads and yearning eyes, as they weep over the errors
of the Church and the evil lives of Christians, are infinitely pathetic.
X In the illustrations of the "Paradiso" we notice a change in
Botticelli's method of treatment. Instead of crowding his drawings
with figures, and introducing a number of different incidents into the
same subject, he confines himself almost exclusively to the two chief
personages of the poet's epic, Dante and Beatrice, whom he repre
sents, as a rule, by themselves, or else attended by a single angel or
blessed spirit, who converses with them. The figures are drawn on a
larger scale than in the "Inferno" or "Purgatorio," and the actual
- pen-work is as simple as the motive of the picture. Very few strokes
are employed, but the effect produced is singularly fine and decorative.
-This time we have no plan or diagram, as was the case both in the
" Inferno " and " Purgatorio." The celestial regions, the painter feels,
are beyond the reach of human understanding. All he can show us are
the forms of Dante and Beatrice, crowned with bay-leaves, borne
upwards by the power of love to the heavenly realm. The conception is
as orio-inal as the execution is delicate and beautiful. Leaving the
flowery meads and winding stream far below, Beatrice floats through the
air, drawing Dante after her. Together they soar upwards through the
wind-bent trees of the forest, with eyes fixed on .the opening heavens,
in an ecstasy of love and yearning. The subsequent history of their
journey through the ten heavens of the poet's system, as expounded by
Beatrice in Canto II is now set forth. We see Dante and his guide in
the successive spheres of the seven planets, and Beatrice, growing ever
fairer and more radiant as she soars higher into the empyrean, explains
1S1

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
the mysteries of God to her listening companion and clears away his
doubts.
Quivi la Donna mia vid' io si lieta
Come nel lume di quel ciel si mise,
Che piu lucente se ne fe il pianeta.
Often as the same motive and figures are repeated, there is no
monotony in Sandro's conception. The variety of attitude and expression
is unending. Sometimes Dante and Beatrice walk rapidly side by side,
sometimes she stands before him with uplifted hand, discoursing
eloquently of heavenly things. Sometimes the poet turns to Beatrice
with a doubtful and anxious gaze, at other times his expression is trans
figured by the brightness of her countenance, and his eyes are fixed-
ardently upon his lady's face. Sometimes they stand apart, and Beatrice
is seen floating in the air, while Dante's eyes are bent on the ground in
deep and earnest contemplation. The figures may be ill-drawn and out
of proportion, the foreshortening and perspective may often be at fault,
but the beauty of the conception, the grace and charm of the faces, are
irresistible. In the third Canto, the circle of the moon, we see the poet's
meeting with the fair women, who turn their faces all towards him as if
eager to speak, and Beatrice, throwing one arm round Dante, tells him
that these are not shadows, but realities, upon which the poet
salutes Piccarda. In the sixth, Dante and Beatrice stand in the circle
of Mercury, surrounded by a host of blessed spirits, " each shining with
new splendour," whom the painter shows us under the figure of tiny
sparks of flame. In the fourteenth Canto the figures of the poet and
his mistress are repeated twice over; in the fifteenth he addresses his
ancestor, Caccagiuda, and in the next illustration we see Beatrice step
apart with a smile on her face — the smile which Dante tells us, recalled
the cough of the maiden who warned Guinevere of her danger
(Par. xvi, 15). Again the painter represents Beatrice addressing Dante
with a smile when they rise into the sphere of Jupiter, and she bids him
look about him and see the blessed company of spirits who hover
around the form of an eagle:
Volgiti e ascolta
Che non pur ne' miei occhi e paradiso.
182

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DANTE ANH BEATRICE IN MERCURY.
Paradiso 1 'II.
THE PARADISO
"Turn round and listen, for paradise is not only to be found in my
eyes." The poet's flight to the sphere ofthe fixed stars is the subject
of the twenty-first drawing, where he is borne in the arms of Beatrice
up the ladder which reaches into the eighth heaven. There we see him
and his mistress again, surrounded by thousands of spirits in the form
of flames, while the signs of the Heavenly Twins and the Bull appear
at their feet, and the Sun of Christ occupies the centre of the picture.
In the twenty-sixth drawing the names of the Apostles, " Piero,
Giovanni, and Jacopo," are inscribed on the three flames which,
hovering above the head of Dante, circle round the Sun, and we see
Beatrice hiding the poet's eyes from the dazzling rays which blind him.
In the next drawing, he looks back at the long distance that he has
travelled, and sees the earth, dimly lighted by the rays ofthe sun, lying
far below, while in the upper part of the same sheet he is represented
soaring at Beatrice's side, attended by a flight of happy souls, into
the highest heaven.
Many of these later drawings seem to have been only lightly
sketched in, and several of the figures are half-effaced. But the illustra
tion of the twenty-eighth Canto is a splendid and elaborate composition,
with countless figures, all carefully drawn and shaded. The painter,
old and failing as he was, when he reached the last pages of Dante's
poem, put forth all his powers to set forth the great vision which he
had often heard Savonarola describe in impassioned language. All the
grace and beauty of his art, all the mystic poetry of his soul, are
present in this picture of the celestial city. We see the nine orders of
Ano-els, who stand before God and chant their eternal song of praise as
they circle round the throne. On the margin of the sheet of parchment,
written with the painter's own pen, we read the first letters of the names
of these celestial hierarchies, as described in Beatrice's own words:
Cherub Cherubini Podest Podestadi
Serafi Serafini Princip Principal.
Tron Troni Arch Archangeli
Domin Dominazioni Ang Angeli
Virtut Virtutes
These names, first given, as Dante tells us, to the different ranks
183

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
of angelic beings, by Dionysius the Areopagite, are the self-same terms,
used by our own poet Milton. "Thrones, dominations, princedoms,
virtues, powers." l But the symbols borne by each order were, as Dr.
Lippmann has pointed out, evidently borrowed from Dante's own book
of the "Convito" (ii, 6), which Botticelli must have studied as atten
tively as he did the " Divina Commedia.2 Thus the three highest orders
of angels bear rings, flags, and shields in their hands, symbolic of the
Almighty power of God, and the next ranks hold sceptres and globes,
as types of the Kingship of Christ over the earth. The fourth row are
represented, either looking upwards in an ecstasy of adoring love, or
else hiding their eyes from the splendour of the vision, while the lower
ranks, who are described in the "Convito" as symbolizing the gifts of
the Spirit, bear scrolls and tablets in their hands.
In the centre ofthe heavenly host Dante stands with upraised hands
and gazes, lost in adoring rapture, on the great vision, while Beatrice,
at his side, points with triumphant gesture to the Throne of God. On
the left, in the lowest tier of angels, one little cherub holds a cartellino
in his hand, on which the painter has inscribed his own name — "Sandro
di Mariano." In these words, written in the same minute characters as
the lines from Dante's poem which are inscribed on the margin of his
drawings, we see an expression of Botticelli's pious hope that his soul
might at the last be numbered among the elect and share the bliss of
heaven. In the next drawing Beatrice appears again among the angel choirs
circling round the Light of God, resplendent in youth and loveliness.
Her tall stature and royal bearing, her rippling locks and radiant smile
strongly recall that other form of Primavera which Sandro painted
long ago, in the brilliant days ofthe Magnifico's reign, and which now
came back to him as he " dreamt of the regions of eternal spring."
In questa primavera sempiterna.
Once more we see Dante at his lady's side, in the highest
empyrean, looking down at the crystal river flowing at his feet, with
the strange and beautiful blossoms of everlasting spring flowering
along its banks and the "living sparks" — " faville vive" — whom
1 " Paradise Lost," v. 9. 2 D. Lippmann, op. eit., p. 53.
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Sandro represents in the form of winged genii hovering in the air and
settling on the bells of the acanthus-shaped flowers, or else diving down
into the shining waters.
The next sheet has been left blank, and there is no illustration
to the thirty-first Canto. Only the Rose of heaven, which Dante
describes in the last songs of his "Paradiso," is sketched out in the
drawing for the thirty-second Canto, and the figures of Christ and his
Mother are slightly indicated as throned on the highest point, while the
Archangel Gabriel, "the morning star, whose face brightens as he
gazes on the Sun," is seen with outspread wings, chanting that perpetual
hymn with which the Courts of Heaven resound, "Ave Maria, gratia
plena." Here the great series ends. The two remaining leaves are left
blank, as if the pen had dropped from the master's hand before the
work was complete. Lorenzo di Pier Francesco dei Medici, the patron
for whom Sandro's volume was originally executed, died in 1503, prob
ably before the drawings were finished, but in all likelihood the master
went on with the work for some years after his old friend's death. This,
however, is only conjecture, for we have no certain record of the great
painter's last years. All we know is that he was still held in high
honour by his fellow-citizens.
On the 25th of January, 1504, Botticelli, we find, was among the
chief artists in Florence who were summoned by the Operai del Duomo,
to choose a site for the young Michelangelo's colossal statue of David.1
Many of Sandro's old friends and associates were present on the
memorable occasion when this illustrious company met in the hall of
the Opera del Duomo and held a solemn council. Leonardo was there,.
after his long absence from Florence, and the favourite architect of the
Medici, Giuliano di San Gallo, together with his brother Antonio, and
Simone Cronaca, the Piagnone architect who built the new hall for the
Consiglio Grande. Baccio d'Agnolo, the Piagnone sculptor, was there
with Giovanni delle Corniole, the engraver who carved Savonarola's head
on a well-known gem, and the fine old master, Andrea della Robbia,
whose family was so closely associated with San Marco in the days of
the revival, and who was already in his seventieth year. There, too,
1 Gaye, "Carteggio," ii, 454.
185 BB

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
were Perugino and Cosimo Rosselli, the painters who had worked with
Botticelli in the Pope's chapel ; Piero di Cosimo, the clever foreman of
Rosselli's shop, who had already surpassed his master; Ghirlandajo's
follower, Granacci; and Sandro's own pupils, Biagio Tucci and Filip
pino Lippi, then at the height of his fame, but whose career was to be
brought to a sudden and premature close only three months later.
Sandro himself took part in the discussion which followed and supported
the suggestion first made by Francesco Monciatto, a wood-carver, and
seconded by Cosimo Rosselli, that the colossal statue should stand in
front of the Duomo, as had been the original intention of the Operai
who gave Michelangelo the commission. "When Cosimo had done
speaking, Sandro," we learn, "spoke as follows: 'Cosimo has said
where in my opinion the statue ought to be placed, in order that it may
be seen by the passers-by, either at the side of Judith, on the steps of
Santa Maria del Fiore, or else in the Loggia dei Signori, but rather,
I think, at the corner of the church, and this I judge to be the best
place.'" Giuliano di San Gallo, however, demurred to this proposal, fearing
that exposure to air would injure the marble, and suggested that the
statue should stand under the Loggia. Upon this Messer Angelo di
Lorenzo Manfidi, one of the heralds, objected, saying that the statue
might interfere with certain ceremonies that were held in the Loggia
during public festivities. Leonardo da Vinci, on the other hand,
strongly supported San Gallo, and could not see that the giant's pre
sence need injure the public ceremonies. Filippino and Piero di Cosimo
then proposed that the choice ofthe site should be left to Michelangelo
himself, "as he will know better than anyone else, how it should be."
In the end, this last resolution was carried unanimously, and by Michel
angelo's wish, the great statue was set upon the steps of the Palazzo,
to the right of the entrance.
This, as far as we know, was the last public appearance of Sandro
Botticelli. After that we hear no more of him. All we have is Vasari's
melancholy picture of the old painter in his declining years, infirm and
helpless, unable to stand upright, and supporting his tottering frame
with two crutches. At length death came to his release. He died on the
17 th of May, 1 5 10, at the age of sixty-four, and was buried with his
186

THE END
fathers in the family vault of Ognissanti, his parish church, near the
spot where Simonetta Vespucci had been laid five-and-thirty years
before. Although he can hardly be said to have reached an advanced age
at the time of his death, Botticelli had outlived most of his contempor
aries and several of his scholars. Ghirlandajo, Cosimo Rosselli, the
Pollaiuoli brothers, Filippino, were all dead. And he had lived long
enough to see the decline of his own reputation. The great popularity
which he had enjoyed during the last decades of the fifteenth century
was already on the wane. In spite of the faithfulness with which
Sandro's art reflected contemporary thought and feeling, and of the
fascination which it had for the scholars of his age, it was in many
respects out of harmony with the prevailing tendencies of Florentine
painting in his generation. The finest qualities of his work, its beauty
of line and charm of expression, were the direct inheritance of an earlier
age, and had little in common with the new ideals and aims of Cinque-
cento masters. The passion to emulate the grand style of Michelangelo,
which swept with overwhelming force over Florentine art in the first
years of the new century, helped to wipe out the memory of the past
and sealed the doom of the old Gothic tradition. Before long Botti
celli's fame had died away and his very name was forgotten.
A curious proof of the oblivion into which his art had sunk, is to be
found in the decree that was issued in 1598, by the Grand Duke Fer
dinand I, a direct descendant of Sandro's old patron, Lorenzo di Pier
Francesco. By this decree, Florentine citizens were forbidden to remove
any works of art, by the hand of prominent masters, from the churches or
houses of the city, or even to take them to their villas and country seats
in the neighbourhood. In the list of excellent painters which follows,
Botticelli's name is not even mentioned. Only two masters who flour
ished in the fifteenth century, Perugino and Filippino, are included in the
list, while no less than seventeen painters of the Cinqueeento are named.
Among these we find not only the great masters, Michelangelo, Raphael,
Leonardo, Fra Bartolommeo, Titian, Correggio and Sebastiano del
Piombo, but many distinctly secondary artists, such as Beccafumi,
Franciabigio, Perino del Vaga, Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino. So
quickly do fashions in art change and pass away, so surely and com-
187

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
pletely does the march of Time obliterate the memory of men that were
famous and honoured in their lifetime. During the next three hundred
years Botticelli's name remained buried in forgetfulness, and it was only
towards the close of the nineteenth century that the rare genius and
high artistic qualities of this great master were once more fully
recognized and appreciated.

188

THE CHIEF WORKS OF SANDRO BOTTICELLI
FLORENCE
Accademia delle Belle Arti
73. The Coronation ofthe Virgin, -with Saints and Angels, from the Church
of San Marco. Painted on wood.
74. Predella to the Coronation. Five subjects: the Annunciation, Scenes
from the lives of St. Augustine, St. John, St. Jerome, and St.
Eligius. Painted on wood.
80. Spring in the Garden of Venus. Painted on wood. From the Medici
Villa of Castello.
85. Madonna, Angels and Saints, from the Church of S. Barnaba.
Painted on wood.
!57> J58> J6i, 162. Predella panels. Christ rising from the Dead. The
Death of St. Ambrose, St. Augustine and the Child, and Salome
with the Baptists Head. Painted on wood.
Uffizi Gallery
39. The Birth of Venus, from the Medici Villa at Castello. Painted on
canvas.
1 154. Portrait of Giovanni dei Medici. Painted on wood.
1 156. The Return of fudith. Painted on wood.
1 158. Holofernes lying dead in his Tent. Painted on wood.
1 1 79. Saint Augustine in his Cell. Painted on wood.
1 182. The Allegory of Calumny. Painted on wood.
1267 bis. The Madonna of the Magnificat. Tondo., painted on wood.
1286. The Adoration of the Magi, from the Church of Santa Maria Novella.
Painted on wood.
1289. The Madonna of the Pomegranate. Tondo, painted on wood.
1299. La Fortezza. Painted on wood.
3436. The A doration of the Magi, or Christ adored as King by the Signoria
of Florence (partly by Botticelli). Painted on wood.
Palazzo Pitti Pallas subduing a Centaur. Painted on canvas.

'£>

I89

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
Marchese Farinola
The Last Communion of St. ferome. Painted on wood.

Ognissanti

St. Augustine. Painted in fresco.

ROME
Cappella Sistina, Vatican
Three frescoes: (i) The Temptation of Christ and the Purification oj
a Leper.
(2) Scenes from the Life of Moses.
(3) The Destruction of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.
Portraits of the Popes. Painted in fresco.

BERGAMO
Morelli Gallery
84. The Story of Virginia. Painted on wood.
MILAN
Ambrosiana
145. Madonna and Child, with Angels. Tondo, painted on wood.
Poldi-Pezzoli Museum
156. Madonna and Child. Painted on wood.

BERLIN
Museum 106. Madonna, with St. fohn the Baptist and St. fohn the Evangelist.
Painted on wood ; from the Church of San Spirito, Florence (1485).
1 1 28. St. Sebastian; from the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, Florence.
Painted on wood (1473).

DRESDEN
Gallery 12. Scenes from the Life of St. Zenobius. Painted on wood.
190

HIS CHIEF WORKS
LONDON
National Gallery
592. The Adoration of the Magi. Painted on wood.
626. Portrait of a Youth. Painted on wood.
915. Mars and Venus. Painted on wood.
1033. The Adoration of the Magi. Tondo, painted on wood.
1034. The Nativity (1500). Painted on wood.
Mr. J. P. HeseltineMadonna and Child with St. fohn (partly by Botticelli). Painted on
wood.
Mr. Ludwig Mond
Scenes from the Life of St. Zenobius. Painted on wood.

PARIS
The Louvre
1297. Giovanna degli Albizzi and the Three Graces. Painted in fresco.
1298. Lorenzo Tornabuoni and the Seven Liberal Arts. Painted in fresco
(i486). ST. PETERSBURG
Hermitage 163. The Adoration of the Magi. Painted on wood.
BOSTON, U.S.A.
Mrs. J. L. Gardner
Madonna and Child, with Angel (the Chigi Madonna). Painted on
wood.
The Death of Lucretia. Painted on wood.

191

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alberti, L. B. Opuscoli Morali, tradotti da M. Cosimo Bartoli
Albertini, Fr. Memorie 
Baldinucci, Filippo. Notizie dei Professori del Disegno . . .
Berenson, Bernhard. The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance
 The Study and Criticism of Italian Art .... 1901-
 The Drawings of Florentine Painters .....
 Alunno di Domenico. (Burlington Magazine)
 La Pallas de Botticelli. (Gazette des Beaux Arts)
Berenson, Mrs. Jacopo del Sellajo (Revue Archeologique)
Borghini, Raffaello. II Riposo ......
Brockhaus, H. Forschungen iiber Florentinischer Kunstwerke
Burckhardt und Bode. Cicerone 
Cartwright, Julia. Sandro Botticelli. (Portfolio) .
 The Painters of Florence from the 13th to the 16th century .
G. B. Cavalcaselle and J. A. Crowe. Storia della Pittura in Italia.
Vol. VI  .

Colvin, Professor Sidney. Botticelli. (Portfolio) .
 Botticelli. (Encyclopaedia Britannica) .....
Crowe, J. A. Sandro Botticelli. (Gazette des Beaux Arts)
Ephrussi, Charles. Les deux fresques du Musee du Louvre, attribuees
a Sandro Botticelli. (Gazette des Beaux Arts)
 La Divine Comedie, illustree par Sandro Botticelli
Fabriczy, C. de. II Codice dell' Anonimo Gaddiano. (Archivio
Storico Italiano) .........
— - — II Libro di Antonio Billi. (Archivio Storico Italiano) .
Forster, Ernst. Geschichte der italienischen Kunst
Forster, Richard. Die Verlaumdung des Apelles in der Renaiss
ance. (Jahrbuch der konig. preuss. Kunstsammlungen)
Frizzoni, Gustavo. L'Arte Italiana del Rinascimento
Gaye, G. Carteggio inedito d'artisti dei secoli xiv., xv., xvi. . ^^,
Horne, Herbert. Quelques Souvenirs de Sandro Botticelli. (Revue
Archeologique) ..........
 The Story of a famous Botticelli. (Monthly Review) .
 A Lost Adoration of the Magi, by Sandro Botticelli. (Burlington
Magazine) . . . . . . .
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1903i8931900
17871896 1898
1882 1901
1894 1871
1886
1882
1885
189.3 1891
187218871 891
18401901 1902 1903

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Sandro Botticelli

Jacobsen, Emil
(Archivio dell' Arte) 
Lafenestre, G. La Peintre ltalienne, Vol. I. .
Lee, Vernon. Botticelli at the Villa Lemmi. (Juvenilia)
Lippmann, Dr. Fr. Zeichnungen von Sandro Botticelli zu Dantes
gottlichen Komodie
Litta, P. Famiglie celebre
Mackowsky, Hans. Jacopo del Sellajo. (Jahrbuch der konig. preuss
Kunstsammlungen) ........
Mantz, Paul. Les Chefs d'CEuvres de la Peinture ltalienne
Medici, L. dei. Poesie 
Mesnil, J. Miscellanea d'Arte .......
Meyer, Julius. Zur Geschichte der florentinischen Malerei des XV
Jahrhunderts. (Jahrbuch der konig. preuss. Kunstsammlungen)
Morelli, Giovanni. Italian Painters, etc., translated by C. J. Ffoulkes
Muntz, Eugene. Les Precurseurs de la Renaissance
 Les Collections des Medicis ....
 Histoire de l'Art pendant la Renaissance
 Apropos de Botticelli. (Gazette des Beaux Arts)
 Les Arts a la Cour des Papes
¦  ¦ Leonardo da Vinci .....
Pater, Walter. Studies of the Renaissance .
Plunket, Count C. N. Sandro Botticelli .
Poggi, Giovanni. La Giostra Medicea del 1475 e
Botticelli. (L'Arte) ....
Poliziano, Angelo. Poesie Italiane .
Reumont, Alfred von. Lorenzo dei Medici
Richter, Dr. J. P. Lectures on the National Gallery
Ruskin. Ariadne Florentina, Lecture VI
 Mornings in Florence .
Steinmann, Dr. E. Sandro Botticelli. (Knackfuss Series)
 Die Sixtinische Kapelle ......
Streeter, A. Botticelli. (Great Masters in Painting and Sculpture)
Strzygowski, Dr. Josef. Die acht Zeichnungen von Sandro Botti
celli zu Dantes gottlichen Komodie im Vatican ....
Supino, I. B. Sandro Botticelli 
Symonds, John Addington. The Renaissance in Italy. (The Fine
Arts) 
Ulmann, Dr. Hermann. Sandro Botticelli .....
Vasari, Giorgio. Le Opere con nuove Annotazioni e Commenti di
Gaetano Milanesi 
Venturi, Adolf. Tesori d'Arte inediti di Roma - .
 La Primavera nelle arti rappresentative. (Nuova Antologia)

la Pallade del

1S78-

1897
18S5 18S2
1896 1883
1899
1896185919031890
1892
1882 1888
1891 1898
18821898
18731900
1902 18251883
189818761894 1897
1902 1903
18871900 18991893 18851896 1892

193

c c

SANDRO BOTTICELLI
Villari, P., e Casanova, E. Scelta di Prediche e scritte di Fra
Girolamo Savonarola con nuovi Documenti intorno alia sua vita . 1898
Waagen, Dr. Treasures of Art in Great Britain .... 1854
Warburg, A. Sandro Botticelli, Geburt der Venus und Friihling . 1893
W.oermann, Dr. Karl. Sandro Botticelli. (Dohme, Kunst und
Kiinstler)  1879-1?

194

INDEX

Abundance, by pupil of Botticelli, 126.
"Academy of Unemployed Artists," 167.
Accademia delle Belle Arti, Botticelli's picture
in, 31. 64, 67-
Acciaiuoli, Zanobi, 68.
Adoration of tlie Magi, by Botticelli, in
National Gallery, 16-17, 33> 52; in St.
Petersburg, 34, 94-95; in the Uffizi, 52-60,
94; the unfinished, 151, 156.
Adoration of the Magi, by Filippino Lippi,
65.
Adoration ofthe Magi, by Gentile da Fabriano,
33-
Adoration ofthe Magi, by Leonardo da Vinci,
59. 94. I51-
Aetion, 88.
Alberti, Leo Battista, " Treatise on Painting,"
62, 163; effect of, on Botticelli's Spring,
71-73; quoted on "Movement," 73-74;
principles of, regarding movement, followed
by Botticelli, 91, 164.
Alberti, Piero degli, 42.
Albertini, Francesco, "Memoriale" of, 19, 20.
Albizzi, Giovanna degli, marriage of, 120;
portraits of, 122-123.
Alexander VI, Pope, 166.
Alexander VII, Pope, 173.
Alfonso, King of Naples, 166.
Allegory of Calumny, by Botticelli, 136, 163-
166.
Allegory op Spring, by Botticelli, 5, 23, 64,
74, 184; interpretation of, 67-75.
Altona Codex, the, 174.
"Alunno di Domenico." See Giovanni,
Bartolommeo di.
Ambrogini, Angelo. See Poliziano.
Ambrosian Library, the, 29-30.
Ambrosiana, the, at Milan, 138. J95

"Amico di Sandro," works of, 28, 46, 50,
I26> 155-
Angelico, 2.
Annibale, Signor, 119.
Annunciation, the, by Botticelli, 139.
Anonimo Gaddiano, the, Botticelli's pictures,
account of, 10, 24, 53, 58, 64, 67, 77, 78,
94, 136; Botticelli, anecdotes of, ri5; the
Dante illustrations, regarding, 171-172.
Aosta, Duke of, 81.
Arrazzola, Fabio, Marchese di Mondragone,
58.
"Ariadne Florentina," by Ruskin, 2.
Arrabbiati, Piagnoni and the, 5.
Arte di Porta San Maria, r4o, 142-143.
Ashburnham Collection, 126, 158.
Assumption of the Virgin, Sistine frescoes, by
Perugino, 100.
Austen, Mrs., 126.
Baccio della Porta. See Fra Bartolommeo.
Bagno di Morba, 118.
Baldini, Baccio, 172.
Baldovinetti, Alessia, master of Ghirlandajo,
90; Duomo decoration commission, on,
157-
Bandinelli, Michele, 42.
Bandini, Bernardo, effigy of, painted by
Botticelli, 77; epitaph of, 78.
Baptism of Christ, by Perugino, 96.
Bardi family, Botticelli's paintings for, 131-
132.
Bardi, Giovanni dei, 132.
Bargello, the, bust of Piero il Gottoso in, 54;
Botticelli's paintings of the Pazzi Con
spirators in, 79.
Barker Collection, Botticelli's paintings in,
86, 88.

SANDRO BOTTICELLI

Baroncelli, Bernardo Bandini, execution of,
77-
Bartoli, reference to, 62.
Battle of Anghiari, by Leonardo da Vinci,
178.
Battle of the Centaurs and Lapithae, by Barto
lommeo di Giovanni, 126.
Beccafumi, 187.
Becchi, Gentile, of Urbino, teacher of Lorenzo
dei Medici, 37.
Bella Simonetta, by Botticelli, 49.
Bellini, Gentile, mentioned by Pacioli, 30.
Bellini, Giovanni, 69.
Bellini, Jacopo, 6.
Bembo Pietro, Florentine humanist, 63, 69.
Benivieni, Girolamo, converted by Fra Giro
lamo, 145.
Berenson, Mr. Bernhard, Botticelli, praise of,
4; Fra Filippo and Botticelli compared,
14; Virgin and Child (Botticelli) discovered
^ by, 16; Botticelli's imitators, on, 28, 34, 46,
49-5°. I25> I26> z4°, 153. *$$, ^o; the
Adorations of Leonardo da Vinci and Botti
celli compared, 59, 60; date of the Corona
tion, 141; Derelitta, the authorship of,
166 n.
Berenson, Mrs. (Mary Logan), 155.
Bergamo, art at, 49, 50.
Berlin Gallery, 132, 173.
Bibbiena, Ser Piero da, Florentine humanist,
63. T44-
Biblioteca Nazionale, 147.
Billi, Antonio, Florentine chronicler, account
of Botticelli, by, ro, 19, 64; works of
Botticelli, reference to, 58, 136.
Bini, Pier Francesco, marriage of, 125.
Birth of Christ (Sistine frescoes), by Perugino,
100.
Birth of Venus, by Botticelli, reference to, 5,
30, 64, 80, 131; description of, 83-86.
Bode, Dr., theory of, regarding Botticelli's
Madonnas, 28; the Medici portraits, 49,
5i-
Bologna, 8.
Bonnat, M., collection of, 78^., 79.
Borghese Gallery, 155.
Borghini, Raffaele, quoted, 2r.
Borgia, Caesar, 166.

[96

Borgo Ognissanti, the, 8.
Bottari, Giovanni, 120.
Botticelli, Giovanni, 8, 10; family of, 92;
death of, 161.
Botticelli, Sandro (Alessandro dei Filipepi),
art of, revival of interest in, 1 ; revealed to
Englishmen by Ruskin, 27; critics of, 2-4;
character and personality of, 4-5, 111-113,
116, i26-r28; birth and early years of, 8,
9; surname of, 9, 10; apprenticeship of, to
Fra Filippo, 9, n, 12; style of, character
istics of early, 16, 17, 30, 35, 73, 85, 86,
9r, 109, 128, 175; later, 152-153, 165;
care for detail, 176, 179; learning of, 63-
64, 115; Dante's "Convito" studied by,
184; supposed commentary on Dante, 171;
family affairs of, 91-93, 161; Florence, re
turn to, 112; portrait of, by Filippino, 112,
113; anecdotes of, by Vasari, 113-115;
by Anonimo, ir5; contemporary opinion
regarding, ir8; imitators of, 154-155;
Vasari and Morelli, praise from, 158; Doffo
• Spini, conversation with, from the "Cron
aca," 167-168; decline of reputation and
death of, 186-187.
Pater's appreciation of, 3 ; Leonardo da
Vinci and, friendship between, 29-31, 59,
60; "Adorations" of, compared, 94; like
ness between works of, 131; landscapes- of,
30-31; Campo Santo of Pisa, commissioned
for, 3f-33; Adorations of, 33-35, 58-59;
portrait of himself introduced in, 55; Lor
enzo's friendship for, and patronage of,
4*-45> "7-120, 157; banner of. Giuliano
dei Medici painted by, 43-44; the Ves
pucci, patrons of, 45 ; La Simonetta, por
traits of, 48-49; motives of. classical, 61;
for Spring, 67, 68, 72; pagan and Hebrew,
i63j pagan and Christian, 178; Pazzi con
spirators, effigies of, painted by, 77-78;
Pallas subduing- the Centaur, commission
to paint, 80 ; St. ylugustine, commissioned
for, by Giorgio Antonio Vespucci, 89;
Ghirlandajo, rivalry between, 89; styles
compared, 90; Sixtus IV, commissioned
by, 93 ; praised by, 1 r 1; Vatican, employed
at, 95; Sixtine frescoes, 99-rio; Signoria
of Florence, commissioned by, 117; Lo

INDEX

Spedaletto, work in, 1 17-120; Chiasso
Macerelli frescoes, 120-124; Casa Pucci
paintings, 125; Madonnas of, chronology
of, 129, 132, 141; popularity of, 153; St.
Augustines of, 135-136; St. Zenobius,
paintings of, 157-158; Lorenzo di Pier
Francesco, friendship with, 160, 162;
Dante illustrations, 160, 1 71-176; Operai
del Duomo, summoned by, 185.
Paintings of, see under titles of pictures ;
style of, influenced by, Fra Filippo, 13-15,
26> 3S> 73j Antonio Pollaiuolo, 18, 21-23,
26, 34, 35; Andrea del Verrocchio, 27-
28, 31; Benozzo Gozzoli, 35; Poliziano,
63, 68, 72; Fra Girolamo, 147, 150, 160,
166, 168-170, 183.
Brancacci Chapel, 56.
Brockhaus, Herr, 66, 90.
Bronte, Charlotte, Ruskin and, 2.
Browning, n.
Brunellesco, work of, 6; Cosimo, attachment
to, 36; Church of San Spirito, Bordi
Chapel in, 132.
Burlington House, 3.
Burne-Jones, Ruskin's enthusiasm, effect on,
2.
Burton, Sir Frederic, 86.
Buti, Lucrezia, T3.

Camaldoli, woods of, 62.
Cambi, Giovanni, death of, 124.
Camera della Segnatura, 95.
Campo Santo in Pisa, Botticelli commissioned
for, 32-33-
Caraffa, Cardinal, 40.
Carducci, Bartolommeo, 166.
Carfax Gallery, 126.
Carmine, the, 6, 12, n 2- n 3.
Carpaccio, 2.
Carregi, Medici Villa at, 37, 39; Mariano
Filipepi's house at, 93.
Casa Torrigiani, 155.
Casino of San Marco, 39.
Castagno, Andrea del, style compared with
Fra Filippo's, 12; teacher of Antonio Pol
laiuolo, 1 7 ; Sandro's " Effigies " attributed
to, 78.

Castello, the Medici Villa, paintings of Botti
celli at, 64-67, 83.
Castiglione, 63.
Cavalcaselle, reference to, 3, 24, 34.
Cellini, Benvenuto, 18.
Centaur, the, in Botticelli's Pallas, 81-83.
Ceresara, Paride da, 69.
Chantilly collection, 126.
Chiasso Macerelli, frescoes of, 120-T24.
Chigi Madonna, 154.
Chigi, Prince, 25.
Chori, Benincasa dei, 92.
Christ bearing the Cross, \^.
Christ rising from the Tomb, 135.
Christina, Queen of Sweden, 173.
Ciompi rebellion, 5.
Cistercians of Castello, 139.
Clement VII, Pope, 53.
Clovio, Giulio, Dante illustrations attributed
to, 175.
" Codex Atlanticus," Leonardo's, 29.
"Codex Gaddiano," the, 10, 19.
Colvin, Professor, 169 n.
Compagnacci, the, r66.
Connetable de Bourbon, 64.
Cook, Sir Frederick, collection of, 33, 49.
Corniole, Giovanni delle, summoned by the
Operai del Duomo, 185.
Coronation of the Virgin, by Botticelli, in the
Accademia, 140-143.
Coronation of the Virgin or Madonna of the
Magnificat, by Botticelli, 129-133.
Corrado, Alessandro Mariano di, 95.
Corrado, Domenico di Tommasso di. See
Ghirlandajo.
Correggio, mentioned in list of painters by
Ferdinand I, 187.
Corsini, Cardinal, 120.
Corsini, house of, 119.
Cosimo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany, son of
Giovanni, 65.
Cosimo, Piero di, at the Vatican, 96 ; sum
moned by the Operai del Duomo, 186.
Council of Outlawry in Florence, 78.
Credi, Lorenzo di, follower of Savonarola,
146; Duomo decoration commission on,
157-
! Cristoforo, Pietro, painter at the Vatican, 95.

197

SANDRO BOTTICELLI

Cronaca, Simone, Duomo decoration com
mission on, 157: summoned by the Operai
del Duomo, 185.
Crowe, reference to, 3, 24, 34.
Crucifixion by Perugino, 139.
Crucifixion of St. Peter, by Filippino Lippi,
50, 112, 113.
Cybb, Francesco, 119.
D'Agnolo, Baccio, summoned by the Operai
del Duomo, 185.
Death of Lucretia, by Botticelli, 158.
Death of Lucrezia, by Amico di Sandro,
126,
Death of Saul, in Dante illustration, by Botti
celli, 178.
Delivery of the Keys to St. Peter, Sistine fres
coes, by Perugino, 107.
Dello, 61-62.
Derelitta, by Botticelli, 166 n.
D'Este, Ercole, 40.
D'Este, Isabella, patron of art, 69.
Dionysius the Areopagite, 184.
Divina Commedia, Botticelli's illustrations,
Pater's ignorance of, 3 ; history of, 160,
172-173; Inferno, 172, 173, 174-177;
Paradiso, 174-175, 181-185; Purgatorio,
177-181.
Dolci, Giovannino dei (Johannes Petrus de
Dulcibus), architect at the Vatican, 95, 96,
98.
Donatello, style of, 17, 33, 130, 164; Ver
rocchio and, 27; attachment to Cosimo,
36; pagan motives, 62.
Donati, Lucrezia, 41.
Dresden Gallery, 157.
Duomo of Florence, Botticelli's design for
the facade of, 10; work in, 157; golden
ball and cross of, 29; monument to Giotto
in, 63 ; Pazzi conspiracy carried out in, 76;
Fra Girolamo's preaching in, 145; cupola
of, struck by lightning, 148; completion
delayed, 159.
Duomo of Spoleto, the, work in, 32.

Ercole, Duke of Ferrara, 93.
Este Library, the, 174.

Fabriano, Gentile da, 6, 33.
Fabroni, 39.
Fall of Lucifer, in Dante illustration, by
Botticelli, 178.
Fancelli, Luca, 40.
Farmola, Marchese, 136.
Farnese, Alessandro (Paul III), in the Sistine
frescoes, 108.
Feast of Herodias, by Fra Filippo, 13.
Federico, Duke, 174.
Federighi, Benozzo, 167.
Ferdinand I, Grand Duke, 187.
Ferrante, King of Naples, 38, 79.
Ffoulkes, C. J., 159.
Ficino, Marsilio, Botticelli's paintings, influ
ence on, 5; Cosimo, relation with, 37;
patronized by Lorenzo dei Medici, 39;
Savonarola's preaching, on, 145; Landino,
friendship with, 171.
Fiesole, Medici Villa of, 68.
Fiesole, Mino da, bust by, in Medici Palace,
54; sculptor at the Vatican, 98; style of,
130.
Filarete, 11.
Filipepi, Alessandro dei. &^ Botticelli, Sandro.
Filipepi, Antonio, 8, 92.
Filipepi, Benincasa, 92, 161.
Filipepi, Lorenzi, 161.
Filipepi, Mariano di Vanni dei, father of
Botticelli, 8; family of, 91-92.
Filipepi, Simone, 8, 92; works of, 147;
"Cronaca" of, passages from, 147-149;
collections for, 167 ; character of Savonarola
by, 1 6 1-1 62; Doffo Spini, conversation
with, 166.
Filippino, see Lippi, Filippino.
Finding of Moses, Sistine frescoes, by Perugino,
100.
Fiorentino, Niccolo, 122.
Fiorentino, Rosso, 187.
Flight of the Assyrians, 178.
Florence, culture of, 5 ; artistic supremacy of,
6-7; under the rule of the Medici, 36;
effect of Piagnoni persecution on, 162;
Humanists of, 5, 62, 171.
Forli, Melozza da, 30, 98.
Fortezza, 2, 16, 19, 22, 73.
Fra Angelico, 18.

[98

INDEX

Fra Bartolommeo (Baccio della Porta), 146,
187.
FVa Diamante, assistant to Fra Filippi, 15;
return to Florence, 32 ; work at the Vatican,
96, 99.
Fra Filippo. See Lippi, Fra Filippo.
Fra Girolamo. See Savonarola.
Fra Hieronimo da Ferrara, 145.
Francesca, Piera, 66.
Franceschi, Piero dei, 6, 30, 174.
Francesci, Napoleone, effigy of, painted by
Botticelli, 77, 78.
Francesco, Giovanni di Pier, 65.
Francesco, Lorenzo di Pier, patron of the
arts, 65; the Magnifico entertained by, 66;
Botticelli's friendship with, 160, 172.
Francesco, Pier, 65.
Franciabigio, 1S7.
Franco, Matteo, 37.
Frati Ospitalieri, the, 118.
Frizzoni, Signor Gustavo, 23, 34, 51.
Frundsberg, 64.
Fuller-Maitland collection, 34, 168.
Galichon collection, 60.
Gallo, Antonio di San, 185.
Gallo, Giulio di San, 40, 185.
Garbo, Raffaelino del, 153.
Gardner, Mrs. J. L., of Boston, 25; collection
of, at Boston, 158.
Gaye, reference to, 9, 10, 91, 117, iS5«.
Gherardi, Jacopo, papal envoy 118.
Gherardo, miniaturist, 157.
Ghiberti, work of, 6.
Ghirlandajo, David, 157.
Ghirlandajo, Domenico, Botticelli's Adora
tion attributed to, 58, 59; Botticelli and,
rivalry between, 89; styles compared, 45,
90 ; work with, 117; work of, at the Vatican,
95-26, 99; contemporary opinion regarding,
118; Chiasso Macerelli frescoes, 121; por
traits of Giovanni degli Albizzi, 122; chapel
of St. Zenobius, work in, 157.
Giostra, the, Lorenzo's, 38; Giuliano's, 41-
45; Poliziano's poem on, 66-68.
Giotto, 2, 5, 63.
Giovanni, Bartolommeo di (Alunno di Do
menico), friendship with Botticelli, 112;

works of, 125, 126; Mr. Berenson's critic
ism of, 155.
Giovanni dei Medici, by Botticelli, 50.
Giovanni, Monte di, 157.
Giovio, Paolo, 41.
Girolamo, Riario, 102.
Gnoli, Signor Domenico, 10, 95.
Gonzaga, Cardinal Francesco, 63.
Gonzaga, Ludovico, 40.
Gottoso, Piero il, 54, 65.
Gozzoli, Benozzo, 32, 33, 35.
Granacci, 186.
Grillandaio, Domenico, 30.
Gronau, 60 n.
Guardi, Benedetto di Ser Giovanni, 139.
Guarino, 163.
Guicciardini, historian, 39, 79.
Guicciardini, Piero, 42, 43, 112.
Guido, 2.
Guild of Florentine painters, 29, 32.
Hamilton, Duke of, 3, 173.
Heseltine, Mr. J. P., 139.
History of Esther, Amico di Sandro, 126.
Holofernes, 23.
Home,. Mr. Herbert, reference to, 4, 9, 54,
58 n. ; Botticelli's works discovered by,
16, 57, I52-
fncendio del Borgo, Raphael, 103.
Incoronata Chapel of Pisa Cathedral, 32.
Innocent VIII, Pope, 18.
Jacobsen, Herr Emil, 68.
Jason, Bartolommei di Giovanni, 126.
Jebb, Sir Richard, 63.
Journey of Moses, Perugino, 96.
Judith and Holofernes, Botticelli, 2, 21-23.
Julius II, Pope, 94.
Kann, M. Rudolf, 122.
Kaufmann collection, the, 23.
Krain, Andreas, Archbishop of, 107, 108,
111.
" La Simonetta." See Vespuccia, Simonetta
Januensis.

199

SANDRO BOTTICELLI

Lami, Gasparre Zenobii del, 57-58.
Landino, Cristoforo, 37; commentary on
"Divina Commedia," 171, 172.
Landucci, Luca, reference to, 29, 124; ac
count of Savonarola, 149, 150, 159; on
state of Florence, after death of the Frate,
162.
Last Judgement, Sistine frescoes, by Michel
angelo, 100.
Last Supper, Leonardo, studies for, 59.
Laurentian Library, the, 57, 160.
Lee, Vernon, 3.
Lemmi, Doctor, 124.
Leo X, Pope (Giovanni dei Medici), 80.
Leyland, Mr., 126.
Liechtenstein collection, 155.
L'innamoramente di Galvano da Milano, 72-
73-
Lippi, Filippino, birth of, 13; Adoration by,
17, 34; Botticelli apprenticed to, 32, 117;
patronized by Lorenzo dei Medici, 40;
Botticelli's portrait in the Carmine, by, 55;
Vatican, employed at, 97; works of, in the
Carmine, 11 2-1 13; contemporary opinion
regarding, 118; Duomo decoration com
mission, on, 157; mentioned in list of
Ferdinand I, 187.
Lippi, Fra Filippo, Botticelli apprenticed to,
n; style of, 1 1-1 2, t,t,; Pieve choir, work
on, 13-15; Spoleto, at, 15; Cosimo and,
friendship between, 36-37; the tondo intro
duced by, 130.
Lippmann, Dr., 172-174, 184.
Lo Spedaletto, home of the Magnifico, 1 1 8 ;¦
frescoes of, 119-120.
Lorenzo, Nicolaus, or Niccolo della Magna,
172.
Louvre collection, Botticelli's pictures in,
124, 126, 129, 154; Sellajo's, 88.
Luca of Cortona, 30.
Lucian, 163.
Luigi, Giovanni, 96.
Luigia, daughter of Lorenzo, 65.
Luini, 2.

Machiavelli, 41.
Macho wsky, Hans, 155.

Maddalena, favourite daughter of Lorenzo,
119.
Madonna and Child with Angels, 28.
Mado7ina and Child with the little Baptist,
by a Botticelli pupil, 154.
Madonna del Passeggio, 155.
Madonna della Misericordia, Ghirlandajo,
90.
Madonna della Vannella, 129.
Madonna ofthe Magnificat, 3, 129-133.
Madonna ofthe Pomegranate, 137-138.
Madonna ofthe Rose, Botticelli (attributed to),
28.
Madonna of the Roses, in the Pitti, 155.
Madonna, the Chigi, Botticelli, 25-26, 31, 56.
Madonna, by Fra Filippo in the Pitti, 13.
Madonna, the Poldi-Pezzoli, 138-139.
Maffei, Raffaelle, 96.
Magna, Niccolo della. See Lorenzo, Nicolaus.
Maiano, Giuliano da, 157.
Manetti, Benedetto, 147.
Manfidi, Messer Angelo di Lorenzo, 186.
Mantegna, Andrea, 30, 40, 174.
Marrai, Signor, 68.
Marriage of Alexatider, Aetion, 88.
Marriage of Thetis, Bartolomeo di Giovanni,
126.
Mars and Venus, 83, 86, 131.
Martelli, Braccio, 41.
Martini, Father Gaetano, 58.
Martino, Beato, the, 90.
Masaccio, work of, 6, 12, 51.
Masolino, 12.
Medici, the, struggles of, 5 ; patrons of art,
2 7;
Medici, Carlo dei, 13.
Medici, Cosimo dei, title of Pater Patriae
earned by, 4; political power of, 6; patron
of Fra Filippo, n, 13, 15; patron of art,
36; sorrow of, on death of Giovanni, 50;
portrait of, in the Adoration, '53, 54; Con
vent of San Marco built by, 144.
Medici, Giovanni dei (brother of Lorenzo),
patron of Fra Filippo, 14; portrait of, 50,
5 1 ; in the Adoration, 53, 54.
Medici, Giovanni dei (son of Lorenzo), 159.
Medici, Giuliano dei, early life of, 37; person
ality of, 41; tournament of, 41-42; loss of
200

INDEX

La Simonetta, 48 ;' portraits of, 49-50; por
trait of, in the Uffizi Adoration, 54 ; death
of, 76.
Medici, Giuliano dei (son of Lorenzo), death
of, 80.
Medici, Lady Bianca Capello dei, 21, 76.
Medici, Lorenzo dei (il Magnifico), Botticelli,
friendship for, 18, 32, 157 ; early life of, 37 ;
talents of, 37-39; Greek and Roman art,
love for, 39 ; " La Simonetta," affection for,
46-48; attempted assassination of, 76;
Pazzi conspirators, punishment of, 77; Pisa, ;
return to, 79; internal State troubles, 79;
poems of, Mars and Venus, 86-87; Sixtus
IV, enmity towards, 93; recall of Savona
rola, 144; Savonarola, attitude towards,
146; death of, 159; dispersion of collec
tion of, 160; Dante's " De Monarchia"
translated by, 171.
Medici, Lorenzo di Pier Francesco dei, 160,
172, 185.
Medici, Piero dei, 124, 152, 160.
Medici, Piero il Gottoso dei, tomb of, 27; art
patronized by, 36; death of, 37; portrait
of, in the Adoration, 53, 54.
Medici palace, 39, 62.
Medici, Signor Giovanni, dei, 64.
Mercatanzia of Florence, the, 19.
Mercury and Flora, Botticelli, 4.
Mesnil, M. Jacques, references to, 8, 9, 57,
58, 142.
Metzger Collection, 157.
Meyer, Dr. Julius, 84, 141.
Michelangelo, Buonarroti, friendship with
Botticelli, 10, 112; Gentile da Fabriano,
reference to, 33; Poliziano arid, 63; Fra
Girolamo's teaching effect on, 146; Flor
ence, departure from, 160; statue of David,
for the Operai del Duomo, 185-186; in
list of Painters by Ferdinand I, 187.
Michelozzo, 36.
Milan, Duke of, n.
Milanesi, Signor, 152.
Minerva and Centaur in the Pitti, Botticelli,
80.
Mirandola, Pico della, 4, 5; death of, 19,
160; Lorenzo and, 38, 159; Savonarola
and, 144; MS- 20

Modena Codex, the. 174.
" Modem Painters," Ruskin, 2.
Molini, Giovanni Claudio, 172.
Monaco, Lorenzo, 12, 18.
Monciatto, Francesco, 186.
Mond, Mr. Ludwig, 157.
Montelupo, Baccio di, 19, 146.
Montepulciano, birthplace of Poliziano, 62.
Morelli, criticism of, 3-4; Botticelli's pictures,.
identification of, 17, 20, 25, 28, 34, 49, 51,
136, 140, 153, 158.
Morelli Collection at Bergamo, 50, 158.
"Morgante," the, 37.
Moro, the, 40.
Moses at the Well, Sistine frescoes, Botticelli,.
104-107.
Moyse, Maestro, 47.
Miiller-Walde, Professor, 119.
Munich Gallery, 153.
Miintz, M. Eugene, 3, 8, 31, 44, 59 n., 78 n.y
91, ni, 131, 152.

Naples Museum, Madonnas in, 28.
National Gallery, Botticelli's pictures in, 16,.
33, 34, 5T> 83> 86> 88> I32, 168; Antonio-
Pollaiuolo's works in, 24.
Nativity, by Botticelli, 10, 165, 168-171.
Neptune and the Sea-gods Riding the Waves,.
Leonardo, 165.
Nerli, Benedetto dei, 42.
Nero, Bernardo del, 124.
Nori, Francesco, 76, 77.

Obedience, Giotto, 81.
Ognissanti, Botticelli's frescoes in, 45, 46, 89,.
90; parish church ofthe Vespucci, 48, 89;.
Ghirlandajo's frescoes in, 89, 144; Sandro
buried at, 187.
Onesti, Nastagio degli, 125, 126.
Operai del Duomo, Michelangelo's David,
site fixed by, 185-186.
Or San Michele, Donatello's work in, 6, 164;.
Lorenzo's Collection sold at, 160.
" Orfeo," by Poliziano, 63.
Orsini, Clarice, 38.
Ottley, Mr. Young, 168.
D D

SANDRO BOTTICELLI

Pacioli, Fra Luca, 30.
Pagagnotti, Bishop, 140, 161.
Palazzo Pubblico, Botticelli's work on walls of,
10; Pazzi Conspirators hanged at, 77.
Palazzo Vecchio, 151.
Pallas subduing the Centaur, 44, 80-83.
PaUavicini Palace, 166 n.
Palmezzano, Marco, 30.
Passage of the Red Sea, Rosselli, 96.
Pastor, Dr., 98.
Pater, praise of Botticelli, 3.
Paul III, Pope 100.
Pazzi Conspiracy, the, 5, 65, 67, 75, 76;
results, 93; effigies of conspirators painted
by Botticelli, 77.
Pazzi, Francesco, 76, 77.
Pazzi, Guglielmo dei, 76.
Pazzi, Jacopo, 77.
Pazzi, Renato dei, 77.
Peretola, village of, 8, 91, 93.
Perugino, Pietro, mentioned by Pacioli, 30;
Isabella d'Este, patronized by, 69; painter
at the Vatican, 96, 98; Botticelli and, com
missioned by the Signoria, 117; contem
porary opinion regarding, 118; Duomo
decoration commission, on, 157; summoned
by the Operai del Duomo, 186; mentioned
by Ferdinand I, 187.
Pesellino, style of, 12.
Piagnoni, struggles of, 5; Savonarola, preach
ing of, 144 et seq.; persecution of, 161, 162;
Botticelli's bottega, meetings in, 167.
Piero, Ser, 29.
Pieta, 153.
Pieve choir, Fra Filippo's frescoes in, 13-14,
16.
Pim, Carlo, 59.
Pintoricchio, 96.
Piombo, Sebastiano del, 187.
Pippo Spano, Castagno's portrait of, 164.
Pitti Palace, Botticelli's pictures in, 44, 45,
80; Amico di Sandro's work in, 126.
Pius II, Pope, 13. .
Platina, humanist', 98.
Podesta of Ravenna, the, 171.
Pogatscher, Dr. Heinrich, 96.
Poggi, Signor, 42.
Poldi-Pezzoli Gallery, 138.

Poliziano (Angelo Ambrogini), reference to,
4, 41; Botticelli's style, effect on, 5, 63,
83, 84, 87; poem of the "Giostra" by,
43, 66-68; epigram of, on " La Simonetta,"
48; portrait of, in the Uffizi Adoration,
55; Lorenzo di Pier Francesco, friendship
with, 66; " Rusticus " of, 68 ; quoted, 70;
Pazzi conspiracy, description of, 76, 77;
poem of, on Lorenzo's return, 79; "Stanze"
of, 86, 87; master of Lorenzo Tornabuoni,
120; Savonarola's preaching, effect on, 145;
friendship with the Magnifico, 159"; death
of, 160.
Pollaiuolo, Antonio, style and works of, 1 7-
19, 24, 29; Botticelli's style, influence on,
34; patronised by the Magnifico, 40; por
trait of, in the Carmine frescoes, 113; de
sign of, for the facade of the Duomo,
157-
Pollaiuolo, Piero, style and works of, 17, 19,
20.
Pollaiuolo, Simone, "il Cronaca," 146.
Pontormo, 187.
Primavera. See Allegory of Spring.
Procession of the Magi, Gozzoli, 32.
Pucci, Antonio, 34.
Pucci, Giannozzo, 124.
Pucci, Lucrezia, 125.
Pucci, Marchese, of Florence, 24.
Pulci, Bernardo, 48.
Pulci, Luigi, 37, ii2.
Punishment of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram,
107-109.
Purification of a Leper, 100-104.
Quandt collection, 157.

Raczynski Madonna, the, 155.
Raising of the King's Son, in Carmine frescoes,
Masaccio, 112.
Rambaldi, Benvenuto, 84.
Raphael, 63, 95, 187. .
Return of Judith, 21, 22.
Retz, Cardinal, 119. -
Riario, Cardinal Raffaelle, 76.
Riario, Girolamo, 70, 93.'
Ricci, Dr. Corrado, 59.
Richter, Dr. J. P., 34, 87.
202

INDEX

Ridolfi, Niccolo, 124. ,
Robbia, Andrea della, 185.
Robbia, Luca della, 33, 76, 130.
Romena, Ser Niccolo da, ,143.
Roscio, Girolamo, 39.
Roselli, Cosimo di Lorenzo di Filippo, 95,
96, 186.
Rovere, Cardinal Giuliano della (Julius II),
94, 95, 103.
Rovere, Innocente della, 102.
Rubens, 2.
Rucellai, Giovanni, 5.
Rucellai, Paolo, 9, 147.
Rumohr, 45.
Ruskin, appreciation of Botticelli, 1, 2,; Bot
ticelli's Fortitude, quoted on, 20, 21; the
" La Simonetta " portraits, on, 49; the
. Sistine frescoes, on, 106.
"Sacre Rappresentazione," 156.
St. Augustine, Botticelli, 89-91.
St. Jerome, Botticelli, 136.
St. Jerome, Ghirlandajo, 90.
St. Petersburg, Botticelli's, pictures in, 31,
94-
St. Sebastian, Botticelli, 24.
St. Sebastian, the Pucci, Antonio Pollaiuoli,
24, 25, 31, 34-
St. Zenobius' chapel, 157.
Saiviati, Jacopo, effigy of, painted by Botti
celli, 77.
Saiviati, Monsignor Francesco, Archbishop
of Pisa, 76, 77.
San Frediano, 161.
San Gimignano, church of, 144,
San Lorenzo, church of, 144, 159.
San Marco, 39, 89, 145, 159.
San Sepolcro, parish of, 161.
San Spirito, church of, 10, 132.
Sangallo, Giuliano di, 132, 155.
Santa Croce, 38, 42.
Santa Lucia, church of, 8.
Santa Maria del Fiore, 89.
Santa Maria Maggiori, 24, 153.
Santa Maria Novella, church of, 53, 57, 121,
123.
Santa .Maria Nuova, Hospital of, 28, 129,
161.

Savonarola, Girolamo, Botticelli, influence
on, 116, 153, 188-170; preaching of, 143,
144-150; character and account of, by
Simone Filipepi, 147-149, 161-162, by
Luca Landucci, 149, 150; treatise of, 156;
Lorenzo's death-bed, present at, 159;
death of, 161 ; reasons for, from the
"Cronaca," 167-168.
Savonarola, Michele, 144.
Segni, Antonio, 165.
Segni, Fabio, 165.
Sellajo, Jacope del, works of, 88, 125, 126,
. IS5'
Ser Ceccone, 162.
Settignano, Desiderio da, 130.
Sforza, Caterina, 64, 102.
Sforza, Costanzo, Lord of Pesaro, 44.
Sforza, Francesco, 6.
Sforza, Lodovico, 49, 118, 166.
Signorelli, Luca, 6.
Sirigatti, M. Ridolfo, 21.
Sistine Chapel, description of, 98-99; frescoes
of, 2, 98-1 1 1.
Sixtus IV., Pope, Botticelli commissioned
by, 93 > enmity towards Lorenzo, 93 ;
scheme of, for Sistine frescoes, 99-100;
San Spirito built by, 100.
Soderini, Pagolo Antonio, 42.
Soderini, Tommaso, portrait of, in the Car
mine frescoes, 112; anecdote of, by Anon
imo, 115.
Solmi, Edmondo, 30.
Sorrows of Niobe, in Dante illustrations, Bot
ticelli, 178.
Spedale degli Innocenti, 129.
Spence, Mr., 44, 81.
Spigolati, Bartolommeo, 92.
Spinelli, Niccolo Forzore da, 51.
Spini, Doffo, 166; conversation of, recorded
in the "Cronaca," 167-168.
Spiridion, M., collection of, 126.
Spoleto Duomo, the, 15.
Spring. See Allegory of Spring.
Stefano, Maestro, 46.
Steinmann, Professor, 28, 54, 68, 96, 99, 100,
102, 104, 107, 108, in, 166 n.
Stoning and Burial of St. Stephen,Fra. Filippo,
13-

203

SANDRO BOTTICELLI

Story of Esther, 155.
Story of lo, Bartolommeo di Giovanni,
126.
Story of Orpheus and Eurydice, Sellajo,
126.
Story of Virginia, Botticelli, 158-159.
Story of Vulcan, Ghirlandajo, 119-
Strzygowski, Dr. Joseph, 173.
" Studies of the Renaissance," 3.
Stufa, Luigi della, 42.
Supino, Signor, 10, 28, 68, 131, 132, 152.
Symonds, John Addington, 3, 130.
Temptation of Christ, Sistine frescoes, 100,
104.
Tintoret, 2.
Titian, 187.
Tobias and the Archangels, at Turin, 155.
Tornabuoni, Giovanni, 94, 124.
Tornabuoni, Lodovica, portrait of, 124.
Tornabuoni, Lorenzo, 5, 120, 121, 124;
marriage of, 120; Botticelli and Ghir
landajo employed by, 121 ; death of, 124,
160.
Tornabuoni, Lucrezia, 37, 45.
"Trattato della Pittura," by Leonardo, 10,
29, 3°-
Trial of St. Peter and St. Paul, Carmine
frescoes, Filippino, 113.
Triumph of Galatea, Raphael, 66.
Triumph of the Faith, Botticelli, 156.
Triumph of Venus, Bartolommeo di Giovanni,
126.
Tucci, Biagio, 113-114, 117, 155, 186.
Turner, 2.
Uccello, Paolo, 12, 17, 62.
Uffizi Gallery, Botticelli's pictures in, 3, 21,
28, 30, 31, 52, 58, 64, 80, 83, 129, 136,
137, 139, 151, i7°-
Ulmann, Professor, 27, 34, 54, 152.
Urbino collection, MS. from, 174.
Urbino, Lorenzo, Duke of, 80.
Vaga, Perino del, 187.
Vallombrosa, monks of, 33.

Valori, Francesco, 160. ¦
Valori, Niccolo, 39.
Vasari, Florentine supremacy, quoted on, 6-
7; reference to, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 18, 19,
29, 33, 34, 61, 64, 67, '78, 83, 90, 140,
143, 158, 166, 171; Uffizi Adoration, on,
53, 60; Botticelli, anecdotes of, 63, 113-
115; character of, 113-115; on his be
coming a "Piagnone," 150, 153; penury
of, 161; "neglect of duty," 172; Sistine
frescoes, 99, 111; Casa Pucci described
by, 125.
Vatican, Capella Grande, frescoes in, 95, 96;
buildings of the, 98-99; library of the, 173,
174.
Venturi, Signor, 72, 152.
Verino, Ugolino, 145.
Verrocchio, works of, 27, 42; Botticelli, in
fluence on, 27, 28, 31; Leonardo, a pupil
of, 29.
Vespucci, Amerigo, 66, 91.
Vespucci, Canon Giorgio Antonio, 45, 89,
144, 150, 160.
Vespucci, Guido Antonio, 94, 16c.
Vespucci, Marco, 41-42.
Vespucci, Piero, 41.
Vespuccia, Simonetta Januensis (La Bella
Simonetta), Giuliano's Giostra, in honour
of, 41, 43; portraits of, 45, 48-49> 68> 87 ;
illness and death of, 46-48; described by
Poliziano, 67, 70-72.
Via Larga Palace, 39, 44, 79, 80.
Villa Lemmi, the, 3.
Villari, Professor, 148.
Vinci, Leonardo da, Botticelli and, friend
ship between and similarity of styles, 10.
29-31, 59-60, 131; Verrocchio, a pupil of,
29; landscapes, on, 30-31; Lorenzo dei
Medici, patronage of, 40; Adoration of the
Magi (unfinished), 59; Bandini's execu
tion, drawing of, 78-79; quoted on " move
ment," 91; summoned by the Operai del
Duomo, 185. ' !'
Violi, Lorenzo, 147, 153; "Giornate" of,
167. '
Virgin adoring the Child, 155.
Virgin and Child (Madonna della Vannella),
Botticelli, 16-17.
204

INDEX

Virgin and Saints, Botticelli, 133-135.
Virgin with the Child and the fnfant St. John,
by a pupil of Botticelli, 129.
Visitation, Ghirlandajo, 123.
Volkmann, L., 174.
Volterra, Jacopo da, 96, in.

Waagen, Dr., 173.
Warburg, Professor, 68.
Watney, Mr. Vernon, 126.
Wemyss, Lord, 155.
Wilson, Mr. Heath, 152, 156.
Zeuxis, 82.

205

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