How Did Botticelli Influence The Italian Renaissance

Although Tommaso Cassai Masaccio died eighteen years before the birth of Sandro Botticelli, and the two often worked on opposing subject matters, the artists both had a profound impact on shaping the Italian Renaissance. Masaccio and Botticelli have stylistic differences that come from more than just the changing times of when they both produced their respective masterpieces. Masaccio’s use of the lost classical one point perspective brought the start of the Italian Renaissance to the forefront of the artistic world. If he had not taken these fundamental steps in the direction of realism, the renaissance would not have begun as it had. Botticelli’s great secular paintings are often viewed as some of the most refined pieces from the renaissance,

Few painters in the renaissance went through half the amount of growth and development of Botticelli. He began painting under the guidance of Fra Filippo Lippi, where he was the star pupil and was even handed the torch of training Filippo’s son Filippino. Botticelli mastered the use of the perspective system that he learned from Lippi, who was influenced by Masaccio himself. After Botticelli had painted numerous Adoration of the Magi’s and other Christian works, he began receiving commissions to compose works that did not follow Christian tradition. Lorenzo the Magnificent hired Botticelli to create one of the most famous paintings known to mankind. The Primavera was to be in the house of Lorenzo’s cousin Lorenzo, most likely as a wedding gift. The Primavera was used in a piece of furniture like a headboard for Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco’s wife in the daybed where she would great all the guests that enter the home. The symbolism in the painting is present to explain to the young wife of Lorenzo of what her role is as a woman in the Medici family. The symbols used to represent the fertility and preparedness to start a family are expressed in a groundbreaking manner by Botticelli. Until this moment, almost all major pieces of art in the renaissance focused on the subject matter of Christian topics. In this case, the sign of

His figures seemed to float like the gothic pieces that dominated the worlds art stage for so many years. These observations, if incorrectly noted, could suggest that Botticelli was not a technically sound artist, however this is the last thing from the truth. From his Christian pieces, it is very easy to tell Botticelli is not lacking in any sort of technical skill such as perspective. Botticelli rather created secular pieces with a new style that uses soft contrasts, very pleasing to the eye that were not popular to the period they were created in. His use of color contrast shows an advanced technique of expressing depth. Botticelli also used exaggerated proportions to express beauty with his soft technique that left no brushstrokes visible. Sadly, many of Botticelli’s great secular works did not survive his own conversion into a follower of Savonarola, where all non-Christian items shall be burned in the bonfire of the vanities. Luckily, the Primavera as well as the Birth of Venus and a small list of others survived the trying times of Savonarola’s Florence. Because of the surviving secular works of art, Botticelli changed the painting world forever with the adaptation of his own style which suggests the strongest interest of the painting deliberately be the most important feature. Botticelli’s profound impact on the twisting and turning of