and
was born in Florence in 1447. According to one account he was called
Sandro di Botticelli because he was apprenticed to a goldsmith of
that name; according to another his brother Antonio, a goldsmith,
was known as Botticello (which means a little barrel), and Sandro
being with him was called Sandro di Botticello. Whatever the cause,
the fact remains that the name of Filipepi is rarely used.

And here a word as to the capriciousness of the nomenclature of
artists. We know some by their Christian names; some by their surnames;
some by their nicknames; some by the names of their towns, and some
by the names of their masters. Tommaso Bigordi, a goldsmith, was so
clever in designing a pretty garland for women's hair that he was
called Ghirlandaio, the garland-maker, and his painter son Domenico
is therefore known for ever as Uomenico Ghirlandaio. Paolo Doni, a
painter of battle scenes, was so fond of birds that he was known as
Uccello (a bird) and now has no other name; Pietro Vannucci coming
from Perugia was called Perugino; Agnolo di Francesco di Migliore
happened to be a tailor with a genius of a son, Andrea; that genius is
therefore Andrea of the Tailor--del Sarto--for all time. And so forth.

To return to Botticelli. In 1447, when he was born, Fra Angelico
was sixty; and Masaccio had been dead for some years. At the age
of twelve the boy was placed with Fra Lippo Lippi, then a man of
a little more than fifty, to learn painting. That Lippo was his
master one may see continually, but particularly by comparison of
his headdresses with almost any of Botticelli's. Both were minutely
careful in this detail. But where Lippo was beautifully obvious,
Sandro was beautifully analytical: he was also, as I have said,
much more interesting and dramatic.

Botticelli's best patron was Piero de' Medici, who took him into
his house, much as his son Lorenzo was to take Michelangelo into
his, and made him one of the family. For Piero, Botticelli always
had affection and respect, and when he painted his "Fortitude" as
one of the Pollaiuoli's series of the Virtues for the Mercatanzia
(of which several are in this gallery), he made the figure symbolize
Piero's life and character--or so it is possible, if one wishes to
believe. But it should be understood that almost nothing is known
about Botticelli and the origin of his pictures. At Piero's request
Botticelli painted the "Adoration of the Magi" (No. 1286) which was
to hang in S. Mar