ALESSANDRO FILIPEPI C.1447-C.151 0 . A Flor entine painter of the Early Renaissance. His birth at Florence is differently stated as in 1446 and 1447, his death as in 1510 and 1515. Ms father, Mariano Filipepi, a well-to-do cit izen, wished to give his son a good education; but the boy's strong will showed itself in a vio lent distaste for learning, and his father placed him in the shop of a goldsmith named Botticello. From this master Botticelli took not only the name by which he was to become famous, but also the use of the gold which he afterwards turned to account in the foliage of his back grounds, in his angels' rippling hair, and in the embroidered tissues of his virgins' robes.
Before long, however, he evinced a strong desire to become a painter, and accordingly entered the studio of the Carmelite monk Era Filippo Lippi, then at the height of his reputation. Many of his early works show a marked influence of Andrea del Verocchio, an allegorical figure of "La Fortezza," and one of them is painted in the manner of the brothers Pollajuoli. When Filip po Lippi died, in 1469, Botticelli, then only about twenty-two years of age, was considered one of the first painters in Florence. His high reputa tion at this time is proved by the distinguished patrons who employed hint—namely, the families of To•nabuoni, Vespucci, Palmieri, Pucci, and. above all, Lorenzo de' Medici, who from the first showed Botticelli a generous patronage which he never withdrew. At that time, also, many in commissions were assigned to him. Thus, in 1475, when the Pazzi plot nearly overthrew the Medici, Bottieelli was called upon to paint the portraits of the offenders. according to usage, on the walls of the Palazzo Vecchio. In 1480, to the order of the Vespucci family. he painted the fresco of Saint Augustine on the wall of the Church of the Ognissanti.
Finally, about 1481, Botticelli was summoned to Rome by Sixtus IV., to assist in painting his newly erected chapel in the Vatican. According to Vasari, he was made chief superintendent of the work; but it is more probable that his supervision was mainly in the distribution of the spaces for the frescoes. His co-workers were Ghirlandajo, Perugino, Cosimo flosselli, and Luca Signorelli. Botticelli himself painted a number of the twenty-four portraits of Popes in the upper niches of the chapel, and three of the twelve frescoes—namely, "The Life of Mo "The Temptation of Christ," and the "Pun ishment of Borah, Dathan, and Abiram." These compositions illustrate both the vigor of his imagination and the limitations of his genius; for, while many of the separate groups are strik ingly beautiful and exhibit an extraordinary amount of life and motion, there is a want of harmony in the whole, and in several eases the figures are crowded together in confused groups.
Botticelli returned to Florence about 1484, and, according to Vasari, "being a man of pro found thought, composed a commentary on Dante's poem, illustrated the Inferno, and had it printed." The commentary has not come to light, but the first Florentine edition of Dante (published by Baldini in 1481) contains engrav ings oil copper to illustrate the Inferno which were made from Botticelli's drawings, and it is believed that Botticelli himself executed sev eral of these plates. Moreover, ninety-six sheets of his drawings, representing all but seven cantos of the Divine Comedy, are still intact, eighty-six of them being in the Berlin Museum. All of these were sketched in silver point and finished with the pen. Sonic were completed in body colors, and it is supposed that the original scheme was for the whole to be carried out in colors, in the style of the earlier illustrations of Dante.
It was also after his return from Rome that Botticelli became a disciple of the Dominican friar Fra Girolamo Savonarola, who came to Florence about 1490. Vasari says that in his religious frenzy Sandro entirely abandoned painting, and was reduced to misery and want. But there is abundant evidence of the falsity of this statement: for though lie naturally ceased painting profane subjects, and was a firm be liever in the friar's prophecies until his death, he was to the last one of the counselors of the Medici in the public works. Thus, in 1491 he and Ghirlandajo had charge of the mosaic work in the cathedral at Florence, and competed in plans for finishing the facade; and in 1503 he was one of those consulted as to the best place for Michelangelo's statue of David. But of more significance than all is the fact that while Savonarola was burned in 14S, it was in 1500 that Botticelli painted one of his most beautiful religious pictures, "The Nativity," in the Na tional Gallery, London. This work is doubly in teresting because it shows that though the artist was still constant to the memory of Savonarola, be had lost nothing of the wealth of his fancy. nothing of his tender sentiment, and nothing of that distinction of attitude which characterized his early works, The story of his poverty is also probably ex aggerated, for Botticelli's income tax for 1498 shows that he was then keeping house with his nephew in Florence, and at the same time pos sessed 'a gentleman's villa' and vineyards out side the gates of San Frediano. his father, too, seems to have been in comfortable circumstances, since in 1510 he purchased the family vault in the Church of the Ognissanti, where Sandro is now buried.