\paperw19995 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 Italian painter.\par
The beginnings of Sandro BotticelliÆs career are linked to the prestigious workshop of Filippo Lippi, but by 14
67 he was already working in that of Andrea Verrocchio, where the most brilliant of the new generation of Florentine Renaissance painters received their training. However, the artistÆs long career was characterized by a constant link with the Medici fami
ly. He painted a standard for Giuliano to use at the tournament of 1475, an event immortalized by the poet Politian, but it was chiefly from the refined humanistic climate created around Lorenzo the Magnificent that the painter drew his inspiration. It w
as during these years that he painted a series of beautiful portraits (of \i Giuliano deÆ Medici\i0 , the \i Man with a Medal\i0 , and others, as well as the \i Adoration of the Magi\i0 in the Uffizi, in which he portrayed several members of the Medici
family). These were the same clients who ordered \i La Primavera\i0 , or \i The Spring\i0 , from him in 1478, with its refined symbolism linked to the culture promoted by the Florentine court. In 1481 Botticelli went to Rome to participate in the frescoi
ng of the Sistine Chapel. He painted three scenes, representing \i Moses and the Daughters of Jethro\i0 , \i The Punishment of Korah\i0 , and \i The Temptation of Christ\i0 , as well as a number of figures of popes. In this work the artistÆs style reache
d the peak of its classicism, achieving a perfect balance between naturalistic inspiration and a tendency toward formal abstraction. This same equilibrium can be found in works painted after 1480, such as the \i Adoration of the Magi\i0 in Washington or
the \i Madonna del Libro\i0 (Milan, Museo Poldi Pezzoli). In the \i Birth of Venus\i0 (Florence, Uffizi), on the other hand, there is a tauter rhythm and a new quest for expressiveness that parallels the painterÆs deep religious feelings. The growing
sense of disquiet is related to the collapse of humanistic certainties, and this found expression in the complex altarpiece that Botticelli painted for San Marco, around 1490, or in the later \i Calumny of Apelles\i0 (both in Florence, Uffizi). This las
t work, with the broken rhythm of its lines and its complicated symbology, reflects the feeling of alienation that isolated Botticelli from contemporary culture at the end of his career.
