Sandro Botticelli, (1445-1510) was a famous Renaissance ari His real name was Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi; his nickname came from Botticello ("little barrel"), which was either the nickname of his older brother or the name of the goldsmith who first taught him.Botticelli was born in Florence to the tanner Marianno di Vanni and his wife in a small place called Smeralda which is now Borgo Ognissanti No. 28 in Florence. He was one of eight children born to his parents, Botticelli being the youngest. In 1458 his father rented a small country villa in Careggi from the powerful Rucellai family, which was a place near Florence where the family moved into the house called the Via della Vigna Nuova.Botticelli's family, the Vespucci family, saw that Sandro had potential to become an amazing artist. They recommended him to the finest artists around for some teaching, but in 1460, at only 15 years old, Botticelli wanted to learn the art of a goldsmith as his older brother was very successful as a goldsmith and he wanted to be exactly like him. He was studying to be a goldsmith for a year or two when he saw a painting called, "Trinity Fresco" by Masaccio. He decided he wanted to paint just like him. He also met artists that had changed from being goldsmiths to artists, so he agreed with his family that he should be doing art. He then changed his professional plans and went to Fra Filippo Lippi in Prato, who was a professional painter, one of the most famous painters in Florence. After 3 years of hard work, Botticelli and his inspiring teacher worked together and in 1465, Botticelli started his first piece of work under the supervision of his teacher. In 1467, Botticelli's teacher, Fra Filippo Lippi, ended his course with Botticelli to go to Spoleto to decorate a chapel in the main Cathedral. Lippi's move inspired Botticelli to start his own workshop in his own house.Botticelli painted many paintings. He mostly painted religious paintings and pa...
