THE ROMANCE OF SANDRO BOTTICELLI T« nIw yorc PUBUC UBRART «*^- —^.—.^ ,»„_,— ^1 t^y^n^y^n^€-.^^59i^^€i!/yi^/ta,. THE ROMANCE OF SANDRO BOTTICELLI WOVEN FROM HIS PAINTINGS BY A. J. ANDERSON Author o( "The Romance 6t Fra Filippo Lippi,'* etc. V- WITH PHOTOGRAVURE FRONTISPIECE AND NINETEEN OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS NEW YORK DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 1912 !^\>S YV- PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN — PREFACE HE who would write the account of a Tuscan of the Quattrocento will find that there are two just courses open to him : he may compile a scientific record of bare facts and contemporary refer- ences, without a word of comment, or else he may tell his story in the guise of fiction. The common practice of writing a serious book, rooted on solid facts, and blossoming out into the author's personal deductions as to character and motives, is a monstrous injustice—the more authori- tative the style, the worse the crime—for who can judge the character and motives of even a contem- porary ? Besides, such works stand self-condemned, since the serious books and articles on Sandro Botti- celli, written during the past twenty years, prove beyond a doubt {a) That he was a deeply religious man, permeated with the rigorism of Savonarola, and groaning over the sins of Florence ; That he a (J?) was semi-pagan ; (r) That he was a philosopher, who despaired of reconciling Christianity with classicalism ; 5 6 Preface {d) That he was an ignorant person, who knew but little of those classical subjects which he took from the poems of Lorenzo and Politian ; ((?) That he was a deep student and essayist on Dante ; (/) That he was a careless fellow, with no thoughts beyond the jest and bottle. The scientific history of Botticelli has been com- piled, once and for all, by Mr. Herbert Home ; and, save for the doubtful suggestion, " Too little mind- ful of the outward forms and observances of religion, too deeply enamoured of the old pagan world of the senses, Botticelli may well have been, during no small part of his life," little light has been thrown on Sandro's personality. But here fiction may step in, and, by following the methods of the modern detective who reconstructs the scene of a crime, the writer may reconstruct the atmosphere in which Sandro moved and the persons who must have influenced him. So, in writing this book, I have started with a table of contemporary Florentine events and the chronological list of Sandro's paintings ; I have taken the records of Sandro from contemporary documents ; I have taken his patrons and friends, the de' Medici, Politian, da Vinci, and the rest, from contemporary accounts and their own writings ; I have taken the philosophy, the classicalism, the life and the art of the age from contemporary books ; then, placing Preface 7 Sandro's pictures before me and remembering the patron for whom each was painted, I have tried to reconstruct the life of Sandro Botticelli. Lastly, so as to guard against the confusion of fact with fiction, I have stated the source of my informa- tion, and the nature of my deductions, in the notes. A. J. Anderson. Note.—The word " romance " is used in the sense of a fictitious narrative in prose, with imaginary conversations and fictitious incidents, and not in the modern sense of a love-story. Thus the title might " be read : The Story of Sandro Botticelli, Reconstructed from his Paintings." ^ CONTENTS Book I DAWN: 1462 to 1467 CHAPTER PAOB I ECHO . II. CONCERNING MESSER DANTE III, MASTER AND PUPIL IV. THE COMING OF ALESSANDRA 47 V. THE PARAGON 58 VI. A PARTING. 65 Book II MORNING: 1467 to 1482 VII POLLAIUOLO'S BOTTEGA 79 VIII. JUDITH 92 IX. ON LOVE AND LORENZO 102 " X. " FORTITUDE 112 Xr. FORTITUDE. 123 XII. A ST. SEBASTIAN 137 lO Contents Book III ' ILLUSTRATIONS *' DETAIL FROM " THE BIRTH OF VENUS . Frontispiece Uffizi Gallery, Florence. FACING PAGK DETAIL FROM " THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI 62 National Gallery, London. ADORATION OF THE MAGI .... 64 National Gallery. JUDITH WITH THE HEAD OF HOLOFERNES . 94 Uffizi Gallery, Florence. FORTITUDE 118 Uffizi Gallery, Florence. ST. SEBASTIAN . 144 Royal Museum, Berlin. PRIMAVERA 168 Academy, Florence. FRA FILIPPO LIPPl's MONUMENT 172 Spoleto. LUCREZIA, BY FRA FILIPPO 172 Pitti Gallery. ALESSANDRA (?) 172 From Botticelli's Venus. FILIPPINO LIPPI 172 From Carmine Frescoes. " DETAIL FROM "THE MADONNA DI SAN BARNABA 176 Academy, Florence. MADONNA DI SAN BARNABA .... 184 Academy, Florence. II 12 Illustrations rAONG PAGE MARS AND VENUS 226 National Gallery, London. GIOVANNA TORNABUONI WITH VENUS AND THE GRACES . 24O Louvre, Paris. MADONNA OF THE POMEGRANATE (tONDO) . 246 Uffizi Gallery, Florence. THE BIRTH OF VENUS 250 Uffizi Gallery, Florence. CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN 268 Academy, Florence. MADONNA AND CHILD WITH ANGELS (tONDO) . 278 Ambrosiana, Milan. THE NATIVITY 286 National Gallery, London. Note.—Mr. Anderson, Rome, who has photographed many of the pictures that are reproduced, has no connection with the Author. Book I DAWN COMMENCES IN THE YEAR 1462, WHEN BOTTICELLI WAS EIGHTEEN ENDS IN THE YEAR 1467, WHEN BOTTICELLI WAS TWENTY-THREE 13 Book I PERIOD: 1462 to 1467 1444. Sandro Botticelli bora. 1456. Fra Filippo Lippi abducts Lucrezia Buti. 1457. Filippino Lippi born. 1458. Lucrezia returns to her convent. 1459 (?). Botticelli becomes Fra Filippo's pupil. 1461. Lippi and Lucrezia released from their vows, and united by the Pope. 1463. This Story Commences. 1464. Cosimo de' Medici dies, and Piero succeeds. 1465. Alessandra Lippi born. 1466. The Rucellai wedding. 1467. Botticelli probably leaves Lippi. Lippi goes to Spoleto. Note. —In 1457 Sandro Botticelli was still at school. After leaving school he worked for a short time with a goldsmith in Florence, and became Lippi's pupil in 1458 or 1459. The date on which he left Fra Filippo is also un- certain. 14 THE ROMANCE OF SANDRO BOTTICELLI CHAPTER I ECHO! •• Piero di Prato, " Fior di granato I SER PiERO d' Antonio di Ser Vannozzo, notary public, and late procurator to the Convent of Santa Margherita in Prato, stopped mopping his sweltering face, stared hard at the steps of the Pieve, and swore long and earnestly* Again, from the direction of the parish church, the voice sang sweetly : " Piero of Prato, " Blossom of the pomegranate ! " " Corpo di Bacco ! If one should happen to be fat and full-blooded, if the colour of the pomegranate should blossom in one's nose as one leaves the wine- shop, it is exceedingly unpleasant to have personalities hurled in one's face by some invisible tormentor ; and this was the fourth following morning that the soothing flavour of the old Chianti had been spoiled, and its generous afterglow changed into a fury of anger. IS 1 6 The Romance of Sandro Botticelli The notary looked across the Piazza, he searched every corner of the Square with eyes that twinkled like those of an angry pig, but he could see no one in the glare of the morning's sun except a priest and one or two women ; none of these could be his enemy ! " " Piero di granato ! (Piero of the pomegranate- tree !) whispered the walls of the Pieve. The voice ended with a chuckle of delight, and Ser Piero d' Antonio di Ser Vannozzo went on homewards towards the Gorellina, grunting wickedly. As the notary left the Square to turn into the Via delle Tre Gore, a boy of seventeen or eighteen strolled up the street which meets the entrance into the Gorellina at an angle, and greeted him. ! " The day is hot, Ser Piero " said he with politeness. For a second Ser Piero eyed the youth suspiciously. " The day is as the good God made it," he answered, and passed on. Then a sweet face looked out of the window of the corner house, and a voice that struggled betwixt " laughter and chiding called : " Sandro ! The boy glanced up, blushing as one who had been detected in some indiscretion, and entered the house. Outside in the Square the hard sun was biting the carving on the exterior pulpit of the Pieve like the black and white of an etching ; within the house, the drawn blinds subdued all the lights and shadows into soft half-tones that made it difficult to distinguish details or read the expression on features. " Ah ! Madonna Lucrezia," he began, hurrying to 7 Echo ! 1 plunge into any topic that might turn the conversation away from a rebuke. " Sandro," she interrupted, " I have heard you, and your words were rude." " " Rude to sing the praises of Ser Piero, madonna } The boy's face had the look of an angel who had been misunderstood. " Since he has toiled long to paint his nose with the colours of the flowers, it were churlish to withhold one's admiration. But what have 1 been doing.? What do you accuse me of.''" he inquired shrewdly. " You go a hand's-breadth down the street, my Sandro," she answered, " so that you cannot be seen from the Piazza ; then you call out rude things against Ser Piero, and wait till he comes fussing round the corner with his face all crimson, grunting like a pig. " I have seen it, not once but three times ! " " Are you kind, madonna .'' retorted the boy. " I do but call Ser Piero ' the pomegranate-flower,' and you ' rebuke me ; whereas you christen him the scarlet ' " pig ! And their eyes met in laughter. Lucrezia Buti, wife of Filippo Lippi, was exceed- ingly fair and graceful ; the boy was blessed with a keen love of beauty. Also Sandro was as good as a little piece of bread, which counted for much ; he was her husband's favourite pupil, which counted for more ; and he was constitutionally delicate, which counted for most of all.