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Botticelli, Florence, and the Medici is a documentary film which premiered in 2021.
It is about the life and work of the famous Italian artist Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510).
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Director: Marco Pianigiani
** Writer: Francesca Priori
** Narrator: Stephen Mangan
** Languages: English and Italian
** Subtitles: English
** Run time: 94 minutes
Several persons are interviewed in this film
Here are the names of the participants
Listed in alphabetical order
** Kate Bryan (born 1982) – a British art historian, a curator, and an arts broadcaster
** Edward Buchanan – creative director, Sansovino 6, a brand which he founded in 2009
** Chiara Cappelletto – senior lecturer in aesthetics at the department of philosophy, the University of Milan
** Franco Cardini (born 1940) – professor emeritus, department of history, University of Florence
** Alessandro Cecchi (born 1949) – director of the Casa Buonarroti Foundation
** Marco Ciatti (1955-2024) – superintendent of Opificio delle Pietre Dure 2012-2022
** Ana Debenedetti – a former curator of paintings, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
** Jonathan K. Nelson – professor of art history, Syracuse University, Florence
Sandro Botticelli was born in Florence (Firenze) in 1445. He lived and worked in this city for most of his life.
In 1510, when he died, he was buried in a church in this city: Chiesa di San Salvatore in Ognissanti.
This film covers his life and his work as an artist. There is not much to say about his personal life.
There is a rumour that he was gay. What is the evidence for this claim? It is assumed he was gay, because he never married. But there is no specific evidence to support this claim.
This rumour is not mentioned in this film. I do not blame the director for omitting this fact, because is not relevant when we want to know what he did as an artist.
There is much to say about his work as an artist.
This film does not list all of his paintings. This would not be helpful. This would not be an interesting film.
A selection of sixteen famous and important paintings is presented in this film.
Each painting is discussed and analyzed and placed in a historical context. Here is a list of these items.
[The paintings are listed in the order of presentation, and not in a strictly chronological order]
[All dates are approximate]
The first group
** Fortitude (1470)
** Adoration of the Magi (1476)
** St. Ambrogio Altarpiece (1470-1472)
** Giuliano de’Medici (1478)
** A Lady Known as Smeralda Bandinelli (1472)
** A Man with a Medal (1475)
** Spring (1478-1482)
** Pallas and the Centaur (1482-1483)
The second group
** Venus and Mars (1483)
** Portrait of a Lady (1475-1485)
** Birth of Venus (1483-1485)
** Coronation of the Virgin (1490)
** Lamentation over the Dead Christ (1495-1500)
** Mystic Nativity (1501)
** The Map of Hell (1492-1502)
** Calumny of Apelles (1495)
Many paintings by Sandro Botticelli are based on a religious motive. But some of them show pagan or non-religious themes.
Who was his muse? Who was his inspiration? Perhaps a woman called Simonetta Vespucci who died when she was only 22 or 23 (1453-1476).
Botticelli was supported by the Medici family who was for many years the rulers of Florence.
This family supported his life and work for more than twenty years: 1470-1492.
When Lorenzo de’Medici died in 1492, Botticelli lost his most important sponsor.
An outspoken priest Girolamo Savonarola took control of the city two years later, in 1494.
Savonarola remained in power for four years. During this time, it seems, Botticelli was close to him.
In 1498, the citizens of Florence had had enough of the outspoken preacher.
He was arrested and removed from power. He was hanged and burned in the central square of Florence.
After the death of Savonarola, it seems that Botticelli did not do much artistic work.
Perhaps he was no longer inspired? Perhaps he was no longer asked to paint new paintings?
During his final years, he was working on an ambitious project: he wanted to make a series of illustrations to The Divine Comedy by Alighieri Dante (1265-1321).
He made 100 drawings, one for each canto in The Divine Comedy. Stage one was a silverpoint drawing in black-and-white. Stage two was to add colours.
Sadly, he did not live long enough to complete this project. Only four drawings were fully coloured. The others were left as drawings in black-and-white.
What happened to them? Most of them have been preserved to our time: 85 are in a museum in Berlin, while eight are in the Vatican. Seven are regarded as lost.
This project is mentioned in the film. Some drawings are shown on the screen. One is fully coloured, while the others are in black-and-white.
When Botticelli died in 1510, he was poor, alone and almost forgotten.
For centuries, he was ignored by the world of art. But in the nineteenth century he was rediscovered, and he was suddenly famous again.
Nowadays, he is regarded as one of the most important artists who lived and worked during the Italian Renaissance.
What do reviewers say about this film?
On IMDb it has a rating of 73 percent.
In my opinion, this rating is too low.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
If you are interested in the history of art – in particular the art of the Italian Renaissance – this film is definitely something for you.
REFERENCES
# 1. Books
Sandro Botticelli:
The Drawings for Dante’s Divine Comedy
By Hein-Th Schulze Altcappenberg
(2000)
Botticelli
By Frank Zöllner
(German version 2005)
(English version 2015)
This volume is published by Prestel
Hardcover, large format
Botticelli
By Barbara Deimling
(English version, 2014)
This volume is published by Taschen
Hardcover, large format
# 2. Film and video
Botticelli
** Director = Grit Lederer
** Language = German
** Subtitles = English
** Run time = 53 minutes
(2015)
Botticelli: Inferno
** Director = Ralph Loop
** Run time = 96 minutes
(2016)
*****
Botticelli
By Barbara Deimling
(Published by Taschen)
(English version, 2014)
*****
On this blog
My review of
Botticelli
A documentary film
(2015)
*****
