Sandro Botticelli and Filippino Lippi at the National Gallery Which is your fav ?

These wonderful paintings were from the National Gallery.

Botticelli was one of the greatest painters of Renaissance. He produced beautiful paintings.

Filippino Lippi was the son of Fra Filippo Lippi and the student of Botticelli. He bridges the divide between the Early and High Renaissance. 

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Venus and Mars by Sandro Botticelli - 1483

Masterpiece.

Venus is the God of love (free-flowing translucent white robes, elegant & graceful, delicate, timeless beauty); Mars is the God of war (strong, muscular).

Amazing contrast between his strength (muscular pose) and the naked and carefree way he’s resting with Venus.

Satyrs with allegorical meaning - they’re holding Mars’ jousting lance and helmet playfully, playing musical pipes into the ears of Mars ... and he seems totally overcome.

It’s interesting that Mars seems to be leaning onto the only armoured satyr. Indicating, again, that love has taken precedence.

Love conquers war?

Venus = classic Botticelli’s girl, pearly glow, slightly distant?

Timeless and idealised - if slightly aloof - beauty?

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About Botticelli

Relegated to the margins of art history, it was only until the beginning of the 20th century that he was properly recognised.

Aged 16, he was apprenticed to Fra Filippo Lippi, one of the leading Florentine painters at that time (and favored by the influential Medici family). This would prove to be critical as Botticelli spent most of his life working for the Medici family. When Botticelli was his pupil, Lippi was famous for his “Madonna and Child with Two Angels”. It proved v. popular because of its uncommonly elegant depiction of the Virgin Mary. It’s easy to see its influence on him - but he later advanced into more complicated compositions, e.g. the Adoration of the Magi. 

These put him on the map and he was invited by the Pope (aged 36) to paint some frescoes on the walls of the Sistine Chapel - increasing his fame and reputation. Returning to Florence, Botticelli received even more valuable commissions from the Medici family and other wealthy Florentines (e.g., “La Primavera” and three years later “The Birth of Venus”). 

A few years after “The Birth of Venus”, Savonarola became very influential in Florence. This maniac was the cause of secular being destroyed. He complained “You have made the Virgin appear dressed as a whore.” Many Florentines - including Botticelli - embraced his ideas. He cut down the secular, mythological works, and the elegant and gracious depictions of the Virgin Mary. 

Botticelli ended up abandoning his work. As an old man, he found himself so poor that if Lorenzo de’ Medici and then his friends had not come to his assistance, he would have died of hunger.

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Portrait of a Young Man by Botticelli

Unknown sitter. Amazing hair locks. Beautiful beretta.

Sandro Botticelli was one of the first Italian artists to abandon the profile format for portraits in favour of a frontal view. 

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Saint Francis of Assisi with Angels by Sandro Botticelli - 1475-80

Very beautiful.

Calm and devotional.

Leaning slightly forward, head lowered, arms crossed with crucifix in between. Seems to be standing on the rocky ground - with no shoes. Ref. to his humility. 

Angels surrounding St Francis. Their wings are gilded symbolising their heavenly nature.

Peaceful and playing hymns, they’re joining him in his moment of mediation. 

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Mystic Nativity by Sandro Botticelli - 1500

Love this one.

Beautifully metaphorical.

The only painting Botticelli signed. It bears several half-legible inscriptions, explaining its creation in 1500 in the aftermath of “the troubles of Italy” - i.e. Savonarola’s religious fundamentalism. 

The traditional nativity scene - the Virgin Mary kneels to adore the Christ baby raising his arm to his mother. 

People joyfully embracing.

 

Sheltering in a cave. 

Shepherds (right) and kings (left) come to pay homage. 

Botticelli’s beautiful angels dancing in the heavens.

Pagan-esque devils flee defeated to the underworld.

There are interesting themes which seem irregular and portentous:

The painting itself is rife with subtle premonitions: The sheet infant Jesus rests on evokes the shroud he would be wrapped in after his crucifixion, the mark of the cross is depicted on the hump of the donkey’s back, and the wooden hut he was born in sits in front of a cave where he would eventually be laid to rest in before his resurrection. Also noteworthy is Botticelli’s decision to include three angels embracing mortal men in the foreground — a motif usually relegated to renditions of the Last Judgment in accordance with the Second Coming of Christ.

Another unusual aspect is that the three kings welcome Jesus empty-handed, rather than with gold, frankincense, and myrrh — perhaps influenced by Savonarola’s sermon, though it could be argued that the ultimate gifts are their prayers and devotion. Throughout the lower half of the painting, seven miniature devils flee into the fissures and crevices in their return to the underworld, with some impaling themselves on their own spears.

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Adoration of the Kings by Botticelli & Filippino Lippi - 1470 

Busy & devotional.

Painted when Filippino was in Botticelli’s studio.

The Virgin and Child, and the king by Filippino.

Background town - no atmospheric perspective.

Botticelli painted the bustling crowds.

I love someone holding handkerchief to his eyes. 

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The Adoration of the Kings by Filippino Lippi - 1480

Interesting. More expressive in colours than Botticelli?

Love the chaos and disorder. There’s a soldier sitting, in the corner, with a bored weary posture.

The shinning star in the middle. 

Three Kings kneel to adore the Christ Child. 

The robes are very colourful.

I love some of the details, such as cracks

in the brickwork, and piles of stones.

Amazing landscape. So much detail.

Saints and armies.

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The Virgin and Child with Saint John by Filippino Lippi - 1480

The colours are incredible.  An early work by Filippino.

I love Saint John’s depiction:

Christ’s slightly older cousin, Saint John the Baptist, looks up in wonder. He wears his traditional camel-hair shirt and holds his reed cross, and clutches at the folds of his red cloak with both hands. 

Christ baby plucking seeds from a pomegranate.

Symbol of his future suffering.

Incredibly delicate halos that seem translucent.

Beautiful white lilies on the ledge.

Symbolising the Virgin Mary's purity.