The ever-increasing regard in which pictures by Botticelli (1444-1510)
are held is traceable to the fact that they show the mystic spirit of
mediæval times mingled with a fantasy that is almost modern. He was a
pupil of Fra Filippo Lippi, and studied the more scientific methods
which Antonio Pollaiuolo adopted in his treatment of the human figure.
Painting in an age when poets penned canzones to many mistresses, and
lovelorn gallants spoke in impassioned verse of the great platonic
emotions which stirred them to the depth of their love-tormented
souls, Botticelli stands forward as the representative of the later
years of the Medicean age. The mystic tendency of his genius, his
poetic imagination, his highly developed sense of linear design, and
the charm of his colour impart to his works a delicacy and refinement
which distinguish them from the works of his contemporaries, pupils,
and imitators. His fame had long been in eclipse when half a century
ago Ruskin rescued it from oblivion. Botticelli, who now has become the
object of a cult at the hands of fervent enthusiasts, is, however, not
to be ranked as a supreme master. He cannot be placed on the same plane
as Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Giorgione.
Botticelli is inadequately represented at the Louvre, which possesses
only two authentic paintings from his hand. Neither of these is on
panel or canvas, but in fresco. He was commissioned in 1486, the year
following his _Mars and Venus_ in the National Gallery (No. 915), to
execute two wall paintings (No. 1297, Plate V., and No. 1298) in the
hall on the _piano nobile_ of the Villa Lemmi, at Chiasso Macerelli,
between Fiesole and Florence, to commemorate the marriage of Lorenzo
Tornabuoni and Giovanna degli Albizzi. These exquisite, but much
injured, frescoes were covered over with whitewash until 1873, and
in 1882 they were removed from the wall and sold to the Louvre for
£1860. In the first (No. 1298) of the series _Lorenzo Tornabuoni,
as Bridegroom, is admitted into the Circle of the Liberal Arts_,
who give a gracious welcome to this friend of all the Muses. This
fresco, curiously enough, is in the official Catalogue regarded as
only a school picture. The second of these wonderful creations depicts
_Giovanna Tornabuoni and the Three Graces_ (No. 1297, Plate V.). We
see the Three Graces bringing to Giovanna their gifts of Chastity,
Beauty, and Love, depicted symbolically as flowers. A tragic fate
awaited the loving pair, as Giovanna died within a few years in
childbirth, while Lorenzo was condemned to death in 1497 for conspiracy.
[Illustration:
PLATE V.—BOTTICELLI
(1444-1510)