Аннотация: Florence of Medici. Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti. A culturological essay.
Florence of Medici. Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti. A culturological essay.
A reader, when getting acquainted with the biographies of Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510), will probably pay attention to the difficulties of the authors of the biographies. The events are very remote in time from the 20th and 21st centuries; there are relatively few written sources describing the artist's life.
The book by Stanislav Vasilyevich Zarnitsky "Botticelli" [Станислав Васильевич Зарницкий "Боттичелли"] seemed to me the most interesting and worth reading biography.
However, in almost all biographies, the reader can see that Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) lived in Florence at the same time.
The Vespucci family, relatives of the famous navigator Amerigo, also lived in the same Florence of Medici. The Genoese Simonetta Cattaneo, wife of Marco Vespucci, lived in Florence from the age of sixteen, and she inspired many of Sandro Botticelli's images.
Who, or what, is Sandro Botticelli portraying?
Some of those who are interested in the work of Sandro Botticelli may come to the conclusion that he portrayed Purity, Beauty and Kindness. He had to depict Fortezza [Fortitude] [Strength] while fulfilling one of the orders... But he did not depict them by means of abstract painting, but using those images that he could observe in real life, among people he knew.
In the paintings "Spring (Primavera)" and "The Birth of Venus", many can to see representatives of those families who lived in Florence, see the features of Simonetta Vespucci.
One of the distinctive features of Sandro Botticelli's paintings is that there are almost no smiles visible on them. What awaits the Purity, and the Beauty and the Kindness that have come into this world? In the paintings by Sandro Botticelli, thoughtfulness, sadness, humility prevail...
Only in the painting "Spring (Primavera)" the viewer can guess the smile on the lips of Spring. Is that a smile? Or is it a calm look, a calm politeness? It seems to be, meanwhile, a smile...
Sandro Botticelli wrote "Spring" in 1478. "The Birth of Venus - in 1484.
This is a time of huge upheavals and unclear prospects in Florence, in Italy, in all the Europe.
In the biographies of Sandro Botticelli, a reader sees an interesting detail - huge changes cover Florence, but its elite continues to read, to study, to reason - to accumulate knowledge. We also see the respect of the entire population of Florence for persons of culture - regardless of their political inclinations.
I have not found any mention of the Genoese Christopher Columbus in Sandro Botticelli's biographies. But Columbus acted. In 1492, during the lifetime of Sandro Botticelli, Columbus discovered a new continent. The continent was named after one of the Vespucci (Amerigo) (1451 - 1512) ) - "America".
In 1500, Sandro Botticelli created "The Mystical Nativity".
Michelangelo completed work on The Statue of David in 1503, a symbol of Power [Fortitude] [Strength], and one of the symbols of Florence. Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci ... - thirty people of the most competent and famous painters, sculptors and architects of Florence - in January 1504 received orders to participate in the discussion on the installation of The Statue of David.
Sandro Botticelli died in 1510.
But inquisitive Florentines, Europeans in general, already knew that the shape of Earth is nearly spherical. Almost everything was ready for Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigation, which began in September 1519.
Representatives of the Medici family became Popes of Rome. Catherine de' Medici became queen consort of France...
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) continues to work on "Gioconda" [Mona Lisa]. We see a smile on the portrait. We see a smile, at last, - it's obvious, there's no doubt about it. Maybe "Gioconda" [Mona Lisa] is a symbolic image of Success?
With such the understanding, Sandro Botticelli depicted Purity, Beauty, Kindness, Michelangelo - Power [Fortitude] [Strength], and Leonardo da Vinci - Success.
December 20, 2021 12:36
Translation from Russian into English: December 20, 2021 14:43.
Владимир Владимирович Залесский "Флоренция Медичи. Сандро Боттичелли, Леонардо да Винчи, Микеланджело Буонарроти. Культурологический очерк".