Botticelli

SANDRO BOTTICELLI (1445 – 1510)

He began his training in Filippo Lippi’s studio, and continued in Verrocchio’s studio, where he joined the likes of such pupils as Perugino and Leonardo. He became the Medici family’s chief artist, his works ranging from portraits to his cycle of Mythological Allegories, which include Primavera, and went on to become Lorenzo the Magnificent’s favourite painter. The spiritual unrest during the Savonarola period led to the artist’s shift in style from a linear grace to the beginnings of Mannerism.

PRIMAVERA

An allegorical representation of Mercury, Venus, the three Graces, Zephyrus, a wind god, in pursuit of the nymph Chloris and the subsequent transformation of the former into Flora, the Roman goddess of Spring. The work is part of an allegorical series painted to foster virtue and aesthetic taste.