Art Prints: Sandro Boticelli

The Renaissance was a period in history marked by cultural revival, social and economic uplift. It developed after the dark period of the Middle Ages where culture and the economy were kept dormant under the structure of the Church and political feudal society. This economic class system and major religious cultural influence was also fatally affected by the bubonic plague, which caused a mass number of deaths in the population. After recovering from the deadly effects of the plague, a dominant middle class began to emerge, composed of a various tradesmen, bankers, accountants and guilders. Because of their newly acquired wealth and comfort, this new middle class also stimulated the economy by consuming leisure, art, education and cultural activities. This development of cultural life and demand for art forged the rebirth or the “renaissance” of the classical ideals of Rome and Greece. Florence in particular, became the center of the Renaissance period, as it was home to a proliferation of artists, philosophers and writers. One of the greatest and most famous artists of this period was Sandro Boticelli. Born in Florence in 1445, the artist was said to have been born with the name Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi in Florence. He first apprenticed with a goldsmith. Staying in Florence all his life except for a brief visit to Rome from 1481-82, the artist was commissioned for various religious projects for Florence’s major basilicas. He was also known to be employed by the powerful Medici family, for whom he produced some of his most famous works including The Adoration of the Magi, 147-75 and The Cestello Annunciation,1489 both painted with tempera on panel. The artist though, is best known for his festive depictions of Greek and Roman legends and myths. For this, he produced two of his most famous works; La Primavera, 1477-78 and The Birth of Venus, 1485-86.Boticelli’s La Primavera or “Allegory of Spring”, one of the two beautiful panels painted for the villa of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici at Castello truly captures the festive, fruitful and free-spirited essence of Spring. It is also written to have captured the true revivalist spirit of the Renaissance. The other panel is The Birth of Venus. This painting captures the luminous beauty of the Roman goddess of love, Venus, as she is born from the sea to signal the arrival of Spring. The painting caused quite a stir with the artist’s depiction of a nudity and paganism in a period where Christian subjects were the dominant subjects. It is praised because of the artist’s rendition of movement, as seen in the billowing fabrics, rustling leaves, scattering roses and lapping waves. This painting is still a famous postcard design. Apart from museum prints, online printers usually offer custom postcard printing of Boticelli fine art prints or any art print or design.