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Sue Hamric Art Appreciation 101 Tim Hahn October 20, 2003 Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli, was a famous painter of the Florentine Renaissance. Botticelli was born in Florence, Italy in the year 1445. to a tanner. His nickname Botticelli was derived from Botticello, which means ?little barrel?, it has been said that the nickname was also his older brothers and was passed down to him at some time. Botticelli began as an apprentice under a local goldsmith, next he served an apprenticeship under Fra Filippo Lippi, a painter. He later worked with the painter and engraver Antonio del Pollaiuolo from whom his sense of line derived: another one of Botticelli?s influences was Andrea del Verrocchio. In 1470, by the age twenty-five, Botticelli had his own workshop. Many of his patrons were some of the greatest families in Florence. Above all most of his work was done for the Medici family. Being in the court of Lorenzo de Medici, Botticelli was greatly influenced by the Christian Neoplatonism, which was a form of art that tried to reconcile classical and Christian views. From 1481 to 1482 Botticelli was commissioned to join Perugino, Ghirlandaio, and Rosselli in Rome to paint frescoes on the walls of the Sistine Chapel. On the walls he painted The Youth of Moses, the Punishment of the Sons of Corah, and the Temptation of Christ. In the 1490?s the Medici?s were expelled form Florence and the monk Girolanmo Savonarola preached reform and austerity, it was at this time Botticelli began to go through a religious crisis. His works such as the Mystic Nativity, and Mystic Crucifixion reflected an intense religious devotion. Sandro Botticelli did not paint in the latter years of his life.
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