Artist profile

Sandro Botticelli

c. 1445–1510 • Florence, Italy

Portrait of Sandro Botticelli
Portrait source: Wikimedia Commons (public domain).
Detail from a portrait of Sandro Botticelli
Detail crop from the same portrait.

Botticelli painted myth and devotion with lyrical line, creating images that feel like poems in paint.

Life and context

Botticelli painted myth and devotion with lyrical line, creating images that feel like poems in paint.

Style and intention

Graceful contour, flowing drapery, and an emphasis on rhythm over depth.

Contributions and techniques

Made classical myth a vehicle for Renaissance ideals of beauty and spirit.

Tempera on canvas, linear elegance, and subtle decorative patterning.

Key works in Explainary

The Birth of Venus
c. 1485-1486

Associated movements

Early Renaissance
14th–15th century