Botticelli was born in 1444 in Florence, Italy. Little is known of his personal life or of his artistic training, but archival evidence indicates that he became an artist’s apprentice at the unusually late age of fourteen, which suggests that the artist received a more complete academic education than most other artists of the Renaissance.

Around the age of 14 or 15, Botticelli was sent to study under the master painter Fra Filippo, with whom he learned the basic skills of the artist, such as how to clean brushes, prepare paints and mix colors. Fra Filippo would prove to be a major influence on the young painter.

With the exception of one visit to Rome, Botticelli never left Florence, where the artist was a member of the court of the Medici (the ruling family of Florence). Most of his art works, the majority of which are undated, were completed under Medici patronage, including the Adoration of the Magi (c. 1475, Uffizi), in which portraits of the Medici appear. This was Botticelli’s first major success, which catapulted his career to such a level that around 1481-82 he was invited to Rome to execute frescoes for the Sistine Chapel with the most acclaimed painters of the time: Perugino, Ghirlandaio, and Rosselli.

Works:

Two of the greatest masterpieces in the history of western art were executed around this time: Botticelli’s Primavera (1478, Uffizi) and Birth of Venus (1483, Uffizi). Most likely painted for the young Lorenzo de Medici, the iconography of these now iconic works has yet to be satisfactorily interpreted, but it is generally accepted that the paintings are allegories illustrating the Neoplatonic ideals so dear to those in Medici circles. Stylistically, these paintings represent the best of a Botticelli at the pinnacle of his career: although the artist had a firm grasp of the principles of linear perspective, Botticelli deliberately eschews realistic spatial construction and construction of forms, opting instead for a more poetic, decorative, and expressive depiction.

By the end of the century, Botticelli had fallen out of favor, and it appears that after the age of 56 the artist stopped painting. In 1510, Botticelli died forgotten, ailing, and alone.