Sandro Botticelli, whose real name was Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, was one of the leading painters of the Florentine Renaissance. He developed a highly personal style characterized by elegant execution, a sense of melancholy, and a strong emphasis on line; details in his paintings appear as sumptuous still lifes. Botticelli was born in Florence, the son of a tanner. The name ("little barrel") by which he became known was either the nickname of his elder brother or the name of the goldsmith to whom he was first apprenticed. Later he was apprenticed to Fra Filippo Lippi. He worked with the painter and engraver Antonio del Pollaiuolo, from whom he gained his sense of line, and came under the influence of Andrea del Verrocchio.

• France 1992.  Botticelli.  "The Virgin and Child". 

As part of the brilliant intellectual and artistic circle at the court of Lorenzo de' Medici, Botticelli was influenced by its Christian Neoplatonism, which sought to reconcile Classical and Christian views.  This synthesis is expressed in Primavera (c. 1478) and Birth of Venus (after 1482), two panels commissioned for Medici villas and now in the Uffizi, probably Botticelli's best-known works. 

While scholars have not yet conclusively deciphered these paintings, their slender elegant figures, which form abstract linear patterns bathed in soft golden light, may depict Venus as a symbol of both pagan and Christian love.

• Aden Quaiti State of Hadhramaut 1967. Simonetta Vespuchi. 

• Paraguay 1971.  Botticelli:  "Birth of Venus".   

• Monaco 1997.  Souvenir sheet. Detail of "Le Printemps" (Primavera). The stamp was engraved by the French engraver Pierre Albuisson. Monaco was awarded the 4th International World Cup for the most beautiful stamp. 
• San Marino 1972.  Details of "Le Printemps" (Primavera).  Simonetta Vespuchi as Venus, and Flora.

Botticelli also painted religious subjects, especially panels of the Madonna, such as the Madonna of the Magnificat (1480s), Madonna of the Pomegranate (1480s), and Coronation of the Virgin (1490), all in the Uffizi, and Madonna and Child with Two Saints (1485, Staatliche Museen, Berlin). Other religious works include St Sebastian (1473-1474, Staatliche Museen) and a fresco, St Augustine (1480, Ognissanti, Florence). In 1481 Botticelli was one of several artists chosen to go to Rome to decorate the walls of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. There he executed The Youth of Moses, the Punishment of the Sons of Corah, and the Temptation of Christ. 

Only "The Youth of Moses" has been issued on stamps in 2000, celebrating the finishing of the restoration of The Sistine Chapel.  This stamp has appeared in a set of four, showing frescoes in the Sistine Chapel by various medieval artists. 

• Vatican 2000.  Botticelli:  "The Youth of Moses", frescoe in the Sistine Chapel, The Vatican, Rome. The stamp is considerably enlarged for a better view.  

• Vatican 2000.  First Day Cover, cancelled 9th May 2000.  Botticelli's frescoe is top right. 

A huge number of Botticelli-stamps have been issued world wide, all more or less showing the same paintings over and over again.  The below set from Guinea Bissau, issued in 1985, shows a good variety of his paintings.  

• Guinea Bissau 1985.  Gallery of various Botticelli-paintings.  From left to right 

  • "Mars and Venus".

  • "The Virgin and the Child and St. John". 

  • Detail of the painting "Madonna and Child with two Saints".    

  • "The Virgin and the Child with the Book".

  • "St. Augustin". 

Sources and links:

• Microsoft Encarta 2002.

• E.H. Gombrich: "Story of the Art" (Danish Edition, ISBN 87-01-79921-5).

• Online gallery of Botticelli-paintings

Other Renaissance Artists on this site: 

Giuseppe Arcimboldi  Leonardo Raphael  Titian  El Greco Michelangelo  Tintoretto

Bruegel (The Elder) Durer Tapestry Lady with Unicorn

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